I know I have already covered sleep for a gratitude attitude but I am thankful for naps.  And while they are sleep, they are abbreviated sleep.  ;)  And today I needed a nap.  I needed the rest it provides.  I needed, perhaps, the escape it can provide.  For me naps are a catch-twenty-two.  I'm old enough now that if I take a nap during the day I can't sleep at night but sometimes I just need the nap even though I know it's going to bite me later on.  But today I suppose I'm thankful for naps because I took a three hour one and still could sleep through the night.  Ah....

Yes, YOU.  I'm grateful for you.  For the you's* who have walked with me for years - through the mountains and valleys of my life.  For the you's who raised me and helped my parents raise me.  For the you's who I have worked with in my various jobs over the years.  For the you's that I have had the honor and blessing to experience life-changing events with. For the you's that have been the bad kind of sandpaper in my life, yes I'm thankful for even you.  For the you's who have been the best kind of sandpaper in my life, I am very thankful for you.  For the redheaded you's I have the privilege to raise, as scary as it is. *wink*  For the you that decided to enter into covenant marriage with me and put up with me for the rest of our lives.  For the you's who were stuck with me in life since we we raised by the same parents. For the you's who my other you's brought into my life through marriage.  For the you's who have made me an Auntie.

I am grateful that I love baking.  I am grateful for baking.  Baking is a kind of therapy for me.  It calms me, soothes me, it makes me feel close to my fellow baking lovers.  I love baking things that I know will bring smiles to the faces of those who are going to partake.  I love baking because it is something I am good at that isn't so Type A. :)  It's nice to not be Type A every once in a while.  I will only bake when I am feeling the love for it.  If I am not feeling the love my recipes never turn out.  Today I am going to do a little baking and I can't wait.

Today I was grateful for the processing kind of conversations I'm invited into.  (If you know me then you aren't surprised as this is a counselor's privilege.) As the other person and myself talk out loud and process through a predicament or hurt or whatever I am always awed at what is revealed as we discuss and process and work to find a solution.  And when the conversation isn't for me necessarily I always end up walking away processing something on my own that came out of what was for the other person! It makes me grateful that I have relationships that are beneficial in so many different ways.

Yes, tears!  I'm grateful for tears.  Tears birthed from laughter and from sorrow.  Tears that clean the windows of our soul, tears that release the tension of our days, tears that weep for and with others, and tears that celebrate for and with others.  Tears of pride for something my child has accomplished.  Tears of longing for that dream on pause.  I'm grateful for tears, they reveal my humanity, my heart, my empathy.

I once was lost but now I am found.  I am found in Christ and my gratefulness for this reality cannot adequately be described in words.  I get choked up with gratefulness when I think about what being found in Christ means.  In my life it means, among many things, redemption and forgiveness and grace.  What was ashes in my life he has turned into beauty.  To say that I am grateful is an understatement.

I'm grateful for my siblings.  I'm the oldest but I'm the only girl so that means that sometimes I get treated as the youngest.  :)  I really love my brothers, I'm 22 months older than the middle and 7 years older than the youngest.  I have some good memories of our times together as kids, and some not so good memories but isn't that part of being in a family?  When I was four and Paul (the middle kid who doesn't have that pesky "middle child" syndrome at all) was two I taught him how to read.  When I was 7 and Bradley (the youngest) was a newborn and crying in his swing I was his biggest defender.  Paul, Brad, and I are very different and yet we share some strong similarities.  We all share a weird love for spreadsheets (we can "blame" my Dad for that), we all love music - different styles perhaps but music plays a big part in each of our lives, we all read - some of us read faster than others but we can "blame" my Mom for the read

Leaning on Ann Voscamp's Love Dares today... 3 gifts I'm grateful for before 11 am: 1)  Sunrise 2)  Coffee 3)  Seeing my Mama each weekday morning for a few minutes

Today I am grateful for hot drinks.  Coffees, Teas, Chocolate.  If it's hot I was grateful for it.  It was so cold today.  I love hot drinks in general but today I was grateful for them.  I love how they warm me from the inside out.  I love how they comfort me.  My taste buds were grateful for them today too. :)

I am really grateful for my crock pot.  It helps me provide my family good and hot meals.  It does the cooking for me while I'm at work. And the meal in a crock pot has really evolved over the years, I have tons of recipes that work well!

Kinda weird I know.  If you know me well you know that it kinda makes me gaggy because I have bathroom issues. (Clearly I didn't have any boys to raise or I'm pretty sure my bathroom issues would have been resolved with teaching boys how to properly go.  But I digress.)  BUT.  But I have to be grateful for toilets. Here's why. Toilets, while commonplace in developed countries, are a luxury in developing nations. Today happens to be World Toilet Day.  No I'm not making it up nor am I joking, click here for the info. And here's really why I am grateful for them.  They provide dignity, especially to girls and women. They also happen to serve as conduits to disease free lives.  They keep *stuff* out of water that people will use for drinking and bathing, they help contribute to better hygiene, and they help with sanitation.  Several studies have shown that due to the factors I just listed as well as others toilets can actually save lives.  So my personal gag reflex asi

How have I NOT verbalized my gratitude for coffee yet?! I am so grateful for coffee. It used to be I just liked the flavor, the taste of it.  I didn't need it for the wake-me-up.  Now, getting older, I think I probably do need it in part for the wake-me-up.  I am grateful for whoever looked at a bean and thought, "Huh, wonder what happens when I crush it and pour water over it and let it sit there."  I am grateful for the ways in which coffee has brought me together with people, sounds weird but its true.  I am so grateful for coffee that I have blogged about it here , here , and I even included the word coffee in the title of one of my other blogs. When I was doing the first 365, songs, I found a hysterical song that talked about coffee . And in my last 365, quotes, I referred to coffee several times within my thoughts about the quote of the day. Clearly I am grateful for coffee.  :)

I am grateful for solitude.  For me - for my personality, for my work week, for my interactions with people - some regular solitude is a necessity in my life.  And if I don't get it I start to implode, and no I am NOT joking.  I'm grateful that my husband recognizes my need for solitude and allows me to have it once a week. A friend shared this someecard with me today that pretty much sums it up perfectly.

Today I am sharing a version of my life story with my home church.  It's a big month for me because I also have to share a version of it at work in a couple of weeks.  (Don't ask...)  Notice I say version, I'll clarify real quick.  I have several versions of my life story and the audience tends to dictate which one I share.  Parts are more appropriate to share with some and not others, you know?  So back to my Gratitude Attitude for today, it's kind of two-fold. I'm grateful to hear other people's life stories, it gives me insight into them - into their behaviors, their actions, their beliefs.  I think hearing another person's life story gives me an empathy for them I may or may not have had previously.  You can't argue with someone's story, you have to accept it and embrace them for who they are at that moment and for what they have come through or even are still struggling with. I'm grateful for my life story.  I used to think it was boring,

I was five and at a birthday party at Wendy's.  This was the Wendy's that had tables that looked like old-time advertisements which I was always fascinated by and felt sad when they went away.  But I digress. Back to the point.  I was five and I'm pretty sure I had not seen anyone do this yet but I thought to myself, "Huh.  I wonder what a french fry dipped in the chocolate frosty would taste like." So I dipped.  And fell in love for the rest of my life.  To this day I consider the combo to be a comfort food. While I am not a big fan of chocolate overall I am also a fan of the peanut butter and chocolate combo.  That also is like comfort food for me.  The sweet and salty combo I consider to be God's gift to us.  I'm grateful for it.  I know, that seems so...shallow.  But somedays you just need some comfort and God is good to provide it in a myriad of ways. Today it was the sweet and salty combo of a frosty and fries.

Today I was blessed by the selfless act of some, of all people, middle school boys.  I don't know when it happened and I know it's been floating around Facebook and other places for at least a couple of weeks but today I finally got a chance to watch the story.  It made me cry and it blessed me, it made me incredibly grateful for these young men who did something so amazing in the midst of our self-driven culture.  If you haven't seen it, or if you have, watch it.  You'll see what I mean!

I love E2 (think of that as e-squared).  I love being an Auntie to them.  What I don't love is the distance but it is what it is.  We make the best of it.  My nephew and niece are just about the most amazing kiddos ever.  I adore them.  They make me feel grateful for numerous things.  When I get to see them and interact with them I am grateful.  Their smiles make me grateful.  That I have had the simple pleasure of holding them as newborns and breathing in their smell and rocking them to sleep makes me beyond grateful.  I'm grateful that despite the distance my awesome brother and seester (in law) post a picture a day of them so we can see them daily and not feel like they have grown up in a blink. (Which it feels like anyway but seeing them everyday helps it to not feel so jarring!)  Here's some recent pictures of E2 (both of their names start with an "E" thus I dubbed them e-squared when the second one was born!).

Specifically my Mama's recipe of lasagna. It is divine.  It's called "Lazy Lasagna" and it is lazy and it is delicious.  Don't get me wrong, I've had good lasagna but nothing beats my Mama's recipe.  We had it for dinner tonight and I feel like Garfield every time we have it.  For the record, I think my Gratitude Attitude for today (lasagna) is also shared by my family.  :)

Today I ran across an article, by accident, about keeping a gratitude journal. It's not a new concept by any means but sometimes I get stuck on what to record (as you may know if you've been following this blog) and usually articles like the one I stumbled upon today refresh my memory on recording my Gratitude Attitudes and even why.  And because my Mom taught me to share when I was a wee one I am sharing the article with you today! Click here , perhaps you'll be encouraged, reminded, or challenged to start recording your own Gratitude Attitudes.

It's Veterans Day here in America.  A day in which we attempt to thank those who have served in our country's armed forces in the past to protect the many freedoms we enjoy.  I say attempt because it is terribly difficult to thank so many who have sacrificed much. But we still attempt.   I am grateful for the freedoms we have that are protected by brave men and women.  Despite all of our problems, issues, and flaws America still remains the country in the world that has perhaps the most diverse freedoms and perhaps the most freedoms (but don't quote me on that and also don't get your panties in a twist if I am wrong - who cares if I am, it's more about the point I'm trying to make) of any country on the planet. We still have varied religious freedoms, speech freedoms, reading freedoms, etc etc.  And those are protected in part by our armed forces.  So for those who have sacrificed much, laid down your lives, fought for the freedoms of this nation I am grateful

Today I participated in celebrating new life that is about to enter the world and the enter the family of dear friends.  I was thinking about how grateful I am that we are given new life to celebrate and rejoice over in the midst of life that may be passing or fading away.  It's a gift to have both. Celebrating new life is so much fun!  We rub her belly (those of us who are allowed) and we talk to her and we wonder with anticipation how this little new life will mark the world with her presence (this new life happens to be a girl).  New life is hope for all of us.  Hope for our futures, for our own families, for things yet to be revealed.

Today I was grateful for a breakfast of friends which is better than a breakfast of champions any day. In fact these friends are champions in my opinion.  This morning I had as close to legit Kenyan chai as I'm going to have in America in a mug given to me by my kindred as I munched on toast spread with wild huckleberry jam from Seattle.  The Kenyan chai reminds me of all of the people I know and love in Kenya, the mug is purple and says Chicago on it to remind me of my kindred and the jam is from the home of another of my besties who I visited at the beginning of October.  I'm grateful for these seemingly silly little reminders of my friends, both near and far.

Tonight we had dinner with my friend Steve.  Steve lives in Kenya, near Nairobi.  I met Steve in 2007 during my first trip to Kenya .  Steve is the son of a Pastor, and a Pastor himself, at a church in Mathare Valley Slum - the oldest slum in East Africa.  Steve is also the Assistant Director of Sanctuary of Hope , a ministry through Hope's Promise.  Steve, and his family, have become dear friends to me throughout the years.  God's grace has enabled us to be connected through technology and every so often we get to have true face time.  :) Steve has been in the States for the past 3 weeks doing some work with Hope's Promise and my old church, the church Mathare Worship Centre is still connected to.  At dinner tonight I took the opportunity to ask Steve some questions, to hear from his perspective and heart about some things.  Who better to ask than one who was born, grew up, and lives in the country? Who better to ask than one who has true observations about things and not

Today I'm having a hard time with gratefulness, that is with pinning something down that I feel truly grateful for. So I am using Ann Voscamp's November Joy Dares as my guide.  I like her guide because it prompts me to get outside of my small mind and small world and expand.  It's like taking a deep breath of good air and letting my lungs fill to capacity instead of taking the normal, small breaths. Gratitude fills me to capacity so I have to exhale it toward others. Today's prompt is three gifts seen from my window.  So here you go. 1)  Clear blue skies 2)  Leaves that have fallen and are dancing along the ground 3)  Watching my redheaded wonders walk into their schools

I love my electric blanket.  I am very grateful for it.  Here's my routine:  I turn it on the highest setting that it goes and preheat my side of the bed.  When I come to bed I turn it down to low and climb in.  The sheets are warm and I am cozy.  I am so very grateful for my electric blanket.  Lanny?  Not so much.  :)

I'm grateful today for hugs.  Hugs from a friend that I haven't seen in way too long, hugs from a friend because she saw I needed comfort.  Hugs that I give to someone who needs comfort, hugs that I give to friends who I have a heart connection with and it is felt in our hug.  Hugs in greeting and hugs in departing.  A hug is something given and received that communicates the person is valuable in some way, they are worth entering into their space (sometimes their very messy - emotionally or physically - space) and they are worth the touch of another.  I send a lot of virtual hugs since a lot of my heart-connection friends aren't even in the same state as me.  I hope they know when I say: {{{hugs}}} I am doing my best to embrace them across the miles.  I know when they say it to me that they are communicating that they are reaching out to bridge the gap between us with some love.  I'm grateful for hugs and all they can communicate when words don't come easy or when

Today blows.  No really it does.  Some days just stink and today is one of those days.  I could feel it was going to be this way when my hurting and aching back kept me up a lot of the night.  I could sense it as I arrived to work and people were draggy.  I knew it within myself, I was grumpy and out of sorts. Today blows.  And then someone, the same one from this post , threw a fit about something so insignificant and ridiculous that I got upset.  This particular person is going to end up in a lot of my posts because they can often be like sandpaper on my days. So my day went from grumpy to tears in about the span of 10 minutes. I went and hid in the bathroom for a few minutes trying to compose myself.  And then since I'm a girl I couldn't just suck it up so I sat in my boss' office and cried in front of him.  *smh*  The thing is, their little ridiculous fits shouldn't upset me.  It should just roll like water off a duck's back but, well, today blows. And sometim

It may sound weird but I am grateful for words well-written.  I am grateful for words that somehow express what I myself have been trying to express but have been unable to.  These words could be in the form of lyrics, a book (fiction or non-fiction), a poem, a scribbled note on a coffee stained napkin, etc.  Sometimes these words are grammatically correct and other times they are not.  I try to look beyond that because when a message is profound and moving it doesn't really matter if it's grammatically correct.  How about you? What is a medium that you are grateful for because it gives you an assist in expression?

Gratitude spreads like a contagion you want to receive.  And when others I read or hear or know express gratitude I am prompted in my own heart and life to express it as well. Their gratefulness for things and people prompt me to think outside of the box I so often get stuck in regarding gratefulness.  Sometimes it is as if once I have run through the generalities of being grateful for "food, clothes, shelter" I can't figure out what to be grateful for when in reality I need, and it is a true need, to get below the generalities and get specific.  That's probably why I liked the prompt I followed for yesterday's Gratitude Attitude .  A dear friend, Crystal, posted this poem on gratitude last night after I went to bed.  It moved me to use it as my Gratitude Attitude for today, her thoughts on gratefulness prompted my gratefulness.  And for that prompt I am...grateful. :) Thankful month, Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, just thankful, I wonder when we started designa

Today Ann Voscamp's blog released November Joy Dares . Her blog title caught my eye because it was laying out the stats that November is the hardest month for people overall.  The month of what is supposed to be thanksgiving is the hardest month. That's interesting isn't it?  I wrote a little about it earlier today, click here for those thoughts. But back to my actual Gratitude Attitude for today. I looked over Ann's dares for gratitude in November and decided I would use it for a guide for this month. Seriously, sometimes I am so brain dead from work and life that I haven't really lived in my day, I've just gotten through it.  When you don't live and just get through the gratitude attitude isn't really apparent. Anyway some of Ann's ideas are good, waaaaaaay below the surface, and challenging even.  I probably (okay I know) I won't follow them every day but I might lean on it a little this month for those brain dead days. Her dare for today

It's the month of Thanksgiving here in the USA.  A trend for several years on Facebook has been to post a thankful every day of the month.  A few years ago I participated in that and it was interesting to see how my tendencies to post a status that wasn't so thankful sounding were squelched in light of giving thanks. It feels a little like a mystery to me, this gratitude attitude truly impacting my thoughts, emotions, words, my behavior even.  And it isn't conscious. In fact some days I have to sit and really think about what I was grateful for. But when it comes to me I immediately recognize that, yes, I am grateful for that thing or that person on that day.  And it changed my interactions that day without me being fully aware of it. Gratitude truly does color my attitude.  And yours too when you allow it.  Have you been participating in having a gratitude attitude? If so, I'd love to hear how it's changed your perspectives on your days, your relationships, your l

I'm grateful for the bittersweet of life and of relationships.  Oh, I may not say that in the midst of the circumstance or relationship but hindsight tells me I am grateful for it.  I'm grateful that along with the bitter there is some sweet to be found.  It may be small, barely registering on the scale of life, but it is there and I have personally experienced the growth of the sweet to balance out the bitter that comes.  But in some ways, here's where I get crazy, I am also grateful for the bitter of life.  (Hindsight, this is all in hindsight.)  In the bitter of life I have seen some pretty incredible things happen and people rise to courage, myself included. And there has been tremendous personal growth from the bitter turned to sweet things of life.  It's all a matter of perspective.