I am finding as I choose to inventory what I’m thankful for, it extends the moments, making them last longer as I linger and appreciate them. Let’s return to grateful. Try taking out a little notebook and starting a list.
As I notice the truth of what is happening around me and connect it to gratitude, the return to this rhythm feels like kindness to my heart. Gratefulness is there but needs to be exposed, and writing down an inventory of those things is bringing back the simple pleasures that are all around me but can go unnoticed if I don’t grab them in the moment.
The bluejays outside my window, the crisp air filling my lungs as I run that makes me feel alive, and the smell of the leaves as we rake them into piles brings the simple grounding effect of gratitude.
As I collect these treasures, they are filling a basket I carry…one I can fill with worry and strife or with gratitude. I am training my eyes to see, capture, linger, notice…and accept the kindness that my God has for me in the moment. As my heart rests there and I look up again, my God is unmissable.
If you are looking for a book to connect your heart to gratitude, cue up Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. It may be just the thing to kick off this season of gratefulness…gifts that are all around us if we stop to notice.
HLLF,
