Got Gratitude?

Gratitude. I just keep coming back to being grateful and what does it really mean? It is a beautiful word and one that creates a skip in the beat of life. It causes one to ponder, at least for a quick minute, and reflect. However briefly, it is a good thing.

Except I just can't get my mind off of one thing. Am I really grateful? Is it a true and sincere attitude of thankfulness?

I bet most of us would have very similar gratitude lists: family, friends, home, clothes and food, a job.

Giving thanks and remembering that others do not have all we have is important. We should never take our blessings for granted when there are many who would love to have what we throw away.

I just keep thinking that to be truly grateful, maybe it would be for something I do not have, or some need that is unfulfilled. What if our list was more like this one.

I am grateful for:

The better job I didn't get when I thought I was so deserving and could have used the higher pay. (It seemed great but the business closed six months later.)

The car breaking down on the freeway on Thanksgiving. It was so maddening because we left early to be on time. (There was tragic accident on our route that very day.)

The day last week when I could not afford the new outfit and I let my bad mood ruin family time. (That money sure came in handy when the baby got sick and required a doctor visit.)

If we can learn any, one thing throughout the struggles in life, learning that to be truly grateful, to have real faith, is to KNOW that God works ALL things for my good. We CAN be grateful when circumstances look grim. There is always a purpose, a reason, that we may not see.

Gratitude really does affect our attitude. If we can live each day confident that there is a lesson in each and every outcome, feeling grateful for the upsets that come our way, we can live truly happy.

In the words of a song by Nichole Nordeman, "A starry sky offers a better view when there is no roof overhead."

That's gratitude.