"One Month to Live" Day 14

Attitude of Gratitude
An attitude of gratitude opens up our hearts to God, enabling us to really see the world the world as it is, to experience life to it's fullest and enjoy each breath."

Kerry speaks truth in that statement. When you look back on times in your life when you have been grateful compared to those times that you were ungrateful, you can SEE the difference in your qualilty of life in those moments. To be honest I haven't been short on either of these moments. So many times before I have been ungrateful and just taken for granted precious gifts in life. And so many time I have fallen on my face in tears for all the thanks I owe Him. I get so completely overwhelmed for the love and mercy He has shown me and my family that it's almost too much to handle. None of us deserve the grace and mercy He has shown us, but when you have had a child healed from cancer at His hands, it can just grip you. I spend most Sunday mornings in church crying at His love for us and this beautiful picture of 300 worshiping Him the way He deserves. If we could always be so thankful and in awe of Him as we are on Sundays mornings, the world would be a better place...but we aren't. Not even me, who has had their child healed at His hands.

It's so much easier for me to be thankful in the big moments...when I see prayers answered, when I see people healed, when I see lives changing. I never forget to thank Him in those moments. But in everyday moments and for everyday things I don't always show an attitude of gratitude. Let's face it...it's hard to remember to be thankful for running water when we have always had it. There are people who have never had it. It's hard to remember to be thankful while waiting in line for a prescription that is taking for-ever! But there are those who are uninsured and without healthcare. It's things like that, that I forget to be thankful for. Items and conveniences I take for granted, that weren't promised me, that I was simply blessed with because of where I was born.

We have so much to be grateful for...more than we'll ever know. When we are grateful we become content and full of peace that only He can provide.

In the "Make it Last for Life" section of today's read Kerry challenges us to think of 5 things that we have taken for granted that we can start being thankful for today. Here are my five:

1. Clean running water. (There are people in countries that don't have it and i have even poured the remainder a half-empty bottle down the drain while forgetting that it is a blessing just to have it.)

2. A bed. (I have often been ungrateful for my bed and complained that my mattress was uncomfortable while someone somewhere else slept on the ground. Probably in the cold as well.)

3. A husband. (I sometimes complain about something he was "supposed to do" or "Could have done" to help me out while forgetting there are moms out there who do this alone because they don't have a husband, or he is deceased, or fighting for my freedom in Iraq.)

4. Being a stay-at-home mom. (I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with my children, especially with todays economy. And there are times I complain about being in the house so much, when it's truly just a blessing to be able to do it. We make lots of sacrifices so I can-but just the same-I know it is a blessing.)

5. Clothes. (I have been known on occasion to compain about having nothing to wear, when I honestly own so many clothes that I have to store some of them. I know that there are people all over who have much less clothes than I do. I definetly have more than one person "needs".)