Choose Gratitude

 

My three-year-old grandson, Alex, likes to help me open our window shades. I’ll spare you the cheesy song we sing as we ask the morning sun to “please shine down on me.”

Like most toddlers, Alex is full of questions. “Where’s the moon, Meema? Where’s the sun, Meema?” I assure him the sun and moon are there even when the clouds hide them.

I love how children believe us. By faith, these little people just trust.

For us, it’s often harder. To believe there’s light beyond clouds. And the darkness gets so darn heavy.

We feel it. We fight it. And it feels like we’re alone. But we’re not. We see it on faces. In grocery stores and in gas stations. In our neighborhoods and in our churches.

We are bombarded with news stories that stir up all kinds of anxiety. My pulse quickens just writing this. And I breathe deep.

So I limit my exposure to news  … which really isn’t new, is it?  They’re the same old stories of pain and chaos, simply recycled with new names and greater intensity.

I limit social media too. No person, no family, no dog, no life is that perfect. So why take the chance of falling into a comparison trap?

Despite what media tells us, there really is way more hope for humanity.

But, this morning is one of those mornings when my thoughts are caught in a rut. I just want to hide. Sure, it seems safe but if I linger here, darkness wins. My brain spirals and I tell it, “Nope. We aren’t doing this.”

I say this out loud and I don’t care who hears. I breathe a prayer and focus on what the cloud is hiding ~ all the good things.

My favorite coffee mug has four little sentences that help me focus. “It’s a new day. I am alive. I am loved. I am thankful.”

I start simple. “God, thank you for this mug of coffee, warming my hands.”  Gratitude sets my mind on the right track. “Thank you for my daughter-in-law who gave it to me.”

This isn’t just positive thinking, or denying hard things, or stuffing my emotions. It’s choosing to see what is also true.

The good.

When we see our blessings, bigger than our burdens, something beautiful happens. We rise above them where God is. Where there’s courage and clarity. Where there’s peace and new perspective. Where He speaks to the chaos in our minds and creates calm.

The powerful rhythm – of winter rolling into spring, spring to summer, and summer to fall –  reminds us that God’s in control. And there’s something bigger going on.

He is always doing something new in us and for us. And that something is always good. Even when we can’t see it. Even when it feels awful. Even when we don’t understand, we know we will be okay.

There’s mystery in this depth of faith. It takes a soul-deep trust that’s hard to explain. So, when I reassure my grandson that the sun and moon are there,  God whispers the same to you and me.

I’m still here.

It’s a new day. We are alive. We are loved. We are thankful.

❤☮