Gratitude

Last year I did started doing something on facebook called "30 Days of Gratitude." I did it because I figured that for the month of November, instead of just throwing up any old status update, I should publicly recognize some of the many blessings that the Lord has allowed into my life. I decided to do it again this year, and I'm pretty sure that it will be repeated next November as well.

I think that gratitude is so important. I think that we live in a world and a culture where entitlement is king, and we spend much too much time thinking about the things that we should have or deserve or "need" to keep up with all of the people around us that we are trying to compete with or impress.

I have said before that I'm learning a lot about God from being a mommy. Nothing burns me up more than seeing a spirit of ingratitude when I give my children something or do something for them. It is so distasteful to have a child respond with an attitude of "this isn't what I wanted" or "this could be better" or "you could have done more." Now, obviously my kids are 2 1/2. They aren't exactly mature enough to really comprehend what they are doing or why they are doing it. It's just the nature that is inate in them. Our job is to help guide their heart attitude to something higher and more Christlike.

But honestly, how many times have I responded to the situations, circumstances, people and deeds in my life with the same distasteful attitude? A LOT. And I'm sure that it grieves the Father's heart when we do this.

So, a lot of my goal for the month was to really attune myself to the obvious and not-so-obvious things that I need to recognize as gifts on a daily basis. A lot of days were easy, happy days. Some days, like today...were more difficult.

Today I felt ready to be committed by 1pm. :-) The kids were being really ornery with eachother, and getting on eachothers (and my) nerves. There was a lot of screaming. As we were getting ready for naptime, Emma came in to tell me that she pooped her panties. While I was trying to deal with her, Alec managed to catapult himself off of the couch, smashing his face into the coffee table. So, one poo-poo kid and one hematoma kid. What to do? My first thought wasn't gratitude.

But later, after things had calmed down, and Emma's bottom was clean and Alec was holding an icepack on his face...it occured to me that I could still be trying to have children. I could still be hoping and praying to be a mom, and getting rather incensed with women who are moms, but feel the need to complain about it a lot.

But the fact is, the same little girl who pooped her panties, is also the Emma who comes running from a mile away when she hears me in the bathroom to hug me and tell me she's proud of me for going peepee in the potty. And the little boy, who thought he was Evel Knievel, is the same Alec who was raising his hands during worship in church on Sunday loving Jesus.

I think that in most difficult situations, there is probably a flipside possibility for gratitude. We just have to find it, or have the faith to choose to believe it regardless. For the ridiculous number of good things in my life, and for the tough things that cultivate character, I am thankful to God.