Thankful Thursday -- February 3, 2011

It's an interesting exercise -- stopping and thinking about gratitude. Not just that quick thanks, but really considering the people, events or things that I am grateful for. Sure I want to live a grateful life, but how can I if I don't make the time to acknowledge my gratitude.

It's easy to fall into a routine of gratitude that's not soul level gratitude. What if I had to come up with different things to express gratitude for every Thursday for an entire year!?! How difficult would it be not to fall back on the tried and true -- home, husband, children, job. Not that it's wrong to be grateful for these things, but maybe I need to look deeper. Move out of my comfort zone.

So for this week anyway here's my list:

1. I am grateful for sitting down to dinner with extended family a couple of weeks ago, and realizing that I was relaxed and at ease. For years I couldn't do this, and I realized in that moment in the crowded restaurant what a blessing and gift it is to feel at ease with my husband's family. 

2. I am grateful for a realization about right and wrong that I had this week. I started crocheting again about a year ago after having done virtually nothing since high school. A friend asked me to help her brush up on her skills, and in the process of helping her, it occurred to me that maybe there's not really a right or wrong way to crochet. I mean, somewhere someone picked up a stick and some thread and started tying knots to create designs, so who's to say what's right or wrong. Maybe it's just a new stitch!

3. I am grateful for my friend's ability to bake cookies. Don't get me wrong, I make very good cookies, but there is something remarkable about the way Linda does it. She doesn't need the recipe; she never misses a beat in the conversation as she makes them; and all you ever have to do is ask and she'll bake them. Like this past Tuesday, we were together doing crafty things and having "group therapy". She fed us a quick lunch and then said, "I'm baking cookies." 

4. I am grateful for learning the lesson of perseverance, even if it did take me a while. I used to refer to myself as a "procrastinating perfectionist". I would put off doing anything out of fear that it might not be done "right". I think child rearing and crafting are the best ways to overcome this mindset. There are no "do overs" in child rearing, so you have to learn to live with mistakes, apologize whenever necessary and move on. You really can't just leave them to their own defenses! But crafting taught me the other side of that coin -- especially crocheting. Start the project. If you don't like it, unravel it and start something different. Life's too short to finish projects you don't enjoy.

5. Finally, I am grateful that learning goes on forever. I never want to stop learning! 

They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening . . .

-- I Chronicles 23:30

Look for more Thankful Thursday post @ Women Taking a Stand