Finding Gratitude Between the Extremes...

by Francy Collins
Website Administrator, FUMCR

“You think it’s just another day in your life. It is not just another day. It’s the one day that is given to you today. It’s given to you. It’s a gift. It’s the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness. - Brother David Steindl-Rast

In Clayton’s sermon on Sunday, he said the Year of Gratitude is not just about writing thank-you notes and certainly not about writing the right number of notes. It is about practicing the spiritual discipline of gratitude in order to make it a way of life.

My family takes some incredible trips to beautiful places, and I appreciate God’s hand in these amazing places. Then when we return from many nights in a tent, far from civilization, I appreciate my kitchen and my bathroom and my bed and the roof over my head and (you get the idea) . . . . Two extremes. My challenge is to find gratitude in the routine times.

My days can be so filled with things to do that I sometimes forget to appreciate why I do them, what I’ve done, what someone else has done for me, what God has created and set in motion for me to experience. I need to pause, to change my view, in order to recognize, unwrap and appreciate the gifts given to me: gifts of time, relationships, experiences and, yes, the stuff that makes my life comfortable.

Thanks to Teresa Parsons for sharing this video that helps me pause and remember to cultivate gratefulness in each moment of time, wonder of nature and bit of technology.