Not a lot of time today... (I've actually got all sorts of time today... but you know what I mean) but I wanted to write a quick post for what I'm grateful for, as gratitude is key to humility. First 10 things that come to mind - go.
1) My wife (surprise surprise). She has certainly been through a lot and has done her best to keep herself and our marriage together through it all. She does her best to stay patient with me. She works incredibly hard at her job. She encourages me. She doesn't let me settle for less than my best efforts and has high expectations for me. She has faith in me. She looks and cooks like an angel. Love you my darling.
2) My weaknesses. That probably comes to mind this quickly because I'm writing in this blog, but I am actually grateful for my weaknesses. They have caused me to gain humility. They have caused me to find God again. They have given me an opportunity to really see the power of God in my life. Like Paul said, "Therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, for when I am weak, then I am strong." (Or something like that).
3) A loving family. I read a few blogs of people who's parents did not show them affection. My family always did. My mother and father cared for me constantly. I have a fantastic relationship with every one of my siblings. They are huge support in my life and I owe much of my success to them. I am particularly grateful for a little sister who I can confide in and share things with, knowing that she somewhat understands and won't ever judge me.
4) A warm home. A lot of people don't have homes. Or if they do, they aren't warm - temperature or feeling. I have both.
5) Friends. My wife and I recently moved into a new state where we know absolutely nobody. Within a few months my wife and I have gotten to know some really fantastic people that I really feel like God led us to meet.
6) A future. I'm grateful to God and to my family for helping me to get to a point where I feel I have a future. My family really treated me well and set me up for success. A little over 2 years ago I didn't feel like I would ever be married or accomplish a particular goal that I had been working toward. Within a year of starting to attend groups I had begun to accomplish my goal and had also been dating my girlfriend (now wife) for a few months. I really owe everything to God and I am so grateful to Him.
7) The internet. Yeah, it's kind of a bittersweet one here, but I am becoming more and more grateful for the internet as I have begun to use it only for good. I'm grateful for the blogging community and the support that it brings. I'm grateful to keep in touch with people in ways that weren't previously possible. I'm grateful for the information that is available so quickly and how much that helps me.
8) My senses. All 5 of 'em (or 6 if you count my ability to estimate time to the second sometimes). I love the taste of foods, especially on thanksgiving. I love admiring God's creations around me and few things make me happier than seeing my wife's happy smile (the one that makes her nose wrinkle up a bit). I'm grateful for wonderful music that I can listen to and play and I it makes me feel. I know that some people don't have these senses, and I think life would be difficult without them.
9) Freedom. I'm grateful that I have the freedom that I have in the country I live, and for those that continue to fight for it. There's a lot of people around the world that have WAY more difficult life circumstances than I do (middle east, rural China, almost anywhere in Africa, guatemala, anyone?) and I count myself really blessed to be where I am. I am also grateful to God for slowly but surely liberating me from the chains that bound my soul. I was truly captive, a slave of the flesh. He freed me and continues to free me as I do my part and trust in Him.
10) Health. I'm not an Adonis or anything, but I'm relatively healthy. (I just looked it up and apparently Adonis is the greek God of beauty, so I'm not sure how much that sentence makes sense. But you get my point). I have 10 fingers, 2 eyes, healthy organs, and am only slighly losing my hair. One of my best friends died in a car accident when we were in out late teens. I had another buddy (not as good friend, but knew him well) who died of malignant melanoma, leaving his wife of 1-2 years. Others have had surgeries or have other difficult ailments that make each day a bit more difficult. My life is relatively free from these and that is something to be grateful for.
Anyway, in writing this I've realized again that, although I certainly have had a heavy to cross to carry for years and sometimes get bitter/angry about it, life could be a lot worse. I have a lot to be grateful for. I can see God's hand in our lives if I try. The problem is that I often focus on things that are going wrong in life rather than things that are going right, or have always been right.
A friend told me this once and it always stuck with me. He put a dot on a white board and asked us, what do you see? Of course we all said, "A dot!" Then he said something to the nature of, "In all the years I've been a teacher, I've never had any student say, 'I see a whole lot of white space.'" I hope that I can do my best to see the "white space" in life and focus less on the black dots of life, no matter how big they are and how much they scream for my attention. I won't ignore the dots - but I also don't put my face up to the board so the dot is all I can see. Take a few steps back and look at the big picture, and life will be happier.
Life is pretty good. Thanks.
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