Today I'm thinking about corners. And I'm grateful for the corners God exposes in my life and then asks me to share with others.  What corners do you have that you can share because of your gratefulness for them in your own life?   Click here to read more about corners .

I'm so grateful for mercy.  Daily I experience small mercies, huge mercies, and mercies in between.  I am gifted mercy by people in my life and by the One who created me.  I get to see mercy in action, I get to participate in it.  Not only am I a grateful recipient of mercy but I get to pass it out as well.  I get to be a giver of mercy.  Giving it is an overflow of receiving it.  I don't hoard it but I pay it forward.

I'm a little obsessed with my cardigans.  I'm also a little picky about them as well.  :)  I'm really grateful for my cardigans for a couple of reasons.  1) They provide a layer so I can wear short sleeves or a thinner top and be comfortable temperature wise.  2)  I like to wrap myself in them to, well, hide myself just a wee bit. (There's a transparent moment for you.)  What piece of clothing are you grateful for and maybe obsessed with?

Half and Half just makes some things better, you know what I'm saying?  Sometimes you just need the extra umpf for your coffee or tea.  Or at least I do. :)  One of my favorite coffees is a Breve which is a bunch of half and half with a little coffee.  DELICIOUS!

Recently I was talking with someone about turning points that we have in life.  Do you know what I mean? Those times we all experience that serve as a turning point in our life - it turns us away from something detrimental and towards something beneficial, turns us away from a toxic relationship so we can move toward a healthy one, etc.  Turning points are usually those things that we experience and see as a huge step but others, even our spouses, may look at and shrug their shoulders like, "It isn't THAT big of a deal." But we know don't we? We know it really IS that big of a deal.  We know that no matter how small or insignificant it looks or looked like to others that for us it was huge.  It was monumental.  It was game-changing.  It was life transforming. And maybe eventually others will see it really is a big deal and maybe they won't. No matter.  It was a turning point for regardless. And nobody else's response or lack of response to our moment should d

Rainbows are starting to appear in our Colorado skies as the weather turns from snow (which we just had 4 days ago) and into rain.  Colorado is one of the most "sunshiniest" states (we land in the top 10) and so chances are good that when we get rain the sun is also shining and creates rainbows. So as rainbows are showing up in our skies I find myself being grateful for their appearance. 1) I am always fascinated by them - especially the double ones and the really bright ones.  2) As cheesy or as "Christianese" as it may sound they do remind me of promises made and kept by the One who made me and keeps me.  Scoff if you want but I know what I know.  Specifically in my 30's God made a lot of promises to me and he has kept every single one.  And he promised in Genesis 9 God sets a rainbow in the skies as a sign that he will stay true to the promise he made to never flood the entire earth again.  So the rainbow is specifically a reminder of God's covenant prom

Otis Spunkmeyer said, "Happiness is a fresh baked cookie." There's no argument here with that statement!  I am a cookie fan. I found out this morning that today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. And when I found that out I felt happy! It's such a simple thing that makes me feel grateful.  I feel grateful that I can have a cookie and share cookies with others and watch them light up because of a cookie! I put two kinds of chocolate chip cookies in my workplace kitchen and it turned into this loud, laughing, light moment for several of my co-workers.  I sat on a stool and just watched. It was super fun to observe.  I felt grateful for the moment of smiles the cookies provided and I got to witness.  There was laughter and chatting and fist bumps...all because of a chocolate chip cookie.  Now who couldn't be grateful for that?!

As a friend said on her Facebook page a couple of weeks ago, "Sometimes you just need a good ol' PB&J sandwich to set things in order. You know what I'm sayin'?"  Indeed! Sometimes you do.  Sometimes you need a simple PB&J to get your Gratitude Attitude back in check. There's something about a PB&J that settles me down and reminds me there is a bigger picture than the tiny little dot I am obsessing over.  Who knew that a PB&J held that much power?! But it does! 

I suppose one reason inside jokes make me feel grateful is because I feel included.  And feeling included is something I wrestle with.  But I'm more grateful for inside jokes because they speak of a history between the people who are in on it. And I'm such a history person. I love having history with my relationships, I love building history with my relationships. Inside jokes feel like an embrace at just the right time depending on the day.

I'm a fan of flowers.  I'm a sucker for big bunches of flowers and their colors competing with one another and also complimenting one another. I have a board on Pinterest where I pin pretty flowers. I love their cheerfulness. When I started my new job (which isn't so new any longer since I've been here for over a year now) my Mama and Daddy sent me flowers - it was so fun. It made me feel kinda special. Every year for Mother's Day my Daddy sends me flowers.  Sometimes I am tempted to buy myself a bouquet...just because.  I'm grateful for the language of flowers. They can help convey different sentiments and help the spirit of the person who gets them.  I love almost all flowers but for some reason my most favorite is the Gerber Daisy.  What's yours?

I love a good salad bar. And I'm actually grateful for them too because I couldn't afford to keep all the things I think make a good salad in my home.  Either the ingredients would go bad before I could consume them all or they are just too expensive to have on hand. But a good salad bar in a decent restaurant is awesome because I can afford to have a good, no make that great, salad and I don't have to do the prep either!  It's a win-win-win for me!

Some days you just need to watch some Veggie Tales.  Bob and Larry have a way of putting things into perspective.  Today in our home church we were talking about casting lots and then that made me think of Jonah which in turn made me think of Veggie Tales Jonah so I had to watch it.  Today wasn't the first day in recent months that I felt like a little Veggie Tales would do me some good. Maybe it would do you some good too?

Today I received a handwritten note in the mail.  With today's technology handwritten notes are almost like a myth from ancient times. :)  In fact, in the past few months I have received 3 handwritten notes from 3 friends.  I feel so grateful for the time they took to write an encouraging note to me, address an actual envelope, use a real stamp, and mail it.  Let's face it, it is so much easier to jot off an email and the same words can be said and be meaningful but to see a friend's handwriting is special and makes me feel grateful for these people in my life who wanted to encourage me in a very personal way.  Is there someone you can send a handwritten note to?

Yes, toes. I know feet in general kind of gross some people out but think about the toes.  What do you know about the toes? Did you know that toes provide us much needed balance?  So no matter how may feel about feet in general you might want to be grateful for your toes since they give you balance.  :)

Today I'm feeling grateful for my burden bearer.  Clearly I can't carry my burdens anyway so I might as well let the one who offers to carry them do so.  His shoulders are wider and strong than mine and he has endurance that surpasses any I will ever be able to muster up.  I'm so weary lately. And my weariness is a mental and emotional weariness that bleeds over into a physical weariness. It's made up of burdens that will take time to work themselves out and I just can't carry them, I feel broken under the strain of their weight. So to have a burden bearer that graciously offers to bear what makes me weary is a relief and I am filled with gratitude.

Well it's happening.  The older I get the more I need air moving around me and while we are on the subject of getting older I might as well also confess to the occasional hot flash that I'm assuming is only going to increase in frequency.  So I'm grateful for fans because I need the air moving around me and they help cool me off when I'm overheating.  I also am grateful for the white noise they provide, it's something else I'm finding I need as I get older - much to my husband's chagrin as he hates it.  But he must love me because he puts up with it for my sake.

I was thinking today about voices.  I'm grateful that we are given a voice to use to sing, protest, agree, teach, fight, etc.  I'm grateful that in the country I live in I still have freedom to use my voice even when it doesn't agree with the government.  I'm grateful that people who have damaged vocal cords or undeveloped vocal cords still have a voice in all the same ways as someone with functioning vocal cords has.  Our voices can make actual noise or can be written. Sometimes our voices can even communicate through facial expression! When I think of voice I don't think of just the actual sounds but I think of the message that we all have to share with others no matter what that may be.

Yep, it's only May 4 and already I am grateful for A/C in my car and in my house.  If this is an indicator of the kind of summer we are going to have I am not going to be very happy.  The older I get the more intolerant of heat I get.  And to be clear, I have always been intolerant about heat. Always. So for me to say I'm getting even more intolerant?  Well you can just pray for my family who has to deal with me - ha!  So today I was grateful for A/C - I used it and I was just plain thankful for it. I am never not grateful for that invention!  What's an invention that you are able to use and are grateful for?

I never thought I would be grateful for shoe inserts but it turns out I am!  In the past few months they have helped my youngest to correct a pronating problem and recently I decided to give them a go for myself as I have been experiencing major hip pain due to my walking on the treadmill. Before I bite the bullet and go see an Orthopedics Doc I have been trying a variety of lower cost, less invasive things.  I think the shoe inserts are part of the solution! Since wearing them in the shoes I walk on the treadmill with my hip pain has diminished significantly. Along with stretching and walking a bit slower I think I have been able to hold off on going to the Doc for a while, maybe "forever".  So I am grateful for the shoe inserts because they are a cheaper option than surgery or even PT and because they have helped my hip pain, which was becoming almost unbearable as I could barely walk, fade away. What is something you didn't think you would be grateful for but it turns

Today I'm feeling grateful that I have a choice to kick the old to the curb and allow the new to enter in. This Gratitude Attitude for today actually has its beginnings earlier in the week.  The hub and I went on a date. The weather altered his plans for us so Plan B was the furniture store to just look, again, at couches.  We are in desperate need of new couches as the picture I put below will show you. But darn it all if furniture isn't expensive and we need to feed our children! So we've been looking for new couches for a couple of years - no joke.  But a few days ago we decided we were going to bite the bullet and just do it, I can hardly stand to sit on our current set. (Yes, this is a total first world issue.  I'm so aware of how first world it is.) So because we weren't super serious about actually looking or buying the other day we found something!  Of course, that's like Murphy's Law right?  So what the heck am I saying in all of this babbling abo

I'm grateful for the blooming that's finally happening here in my home state! I know that for some the blooming that happens this time of year makes them miserable but it's so PRETTY!! I love watching things come to life and open up.  I think it speaks of hope.  The hope that there is new life to bloom even when something looks dead. I guess you could say that my gratefulness for the blooming going on right now is two-fold, a pleasure for my eyes and hope for my heart.

It seems a little obvious to be grateful for the brain BUT have you ever really thought about it?  The brain that is.  Have you ever used your brain to think about the brain?  It is fascinating!  It controls our movements, our thoughts, our speech, even aspects of our personalities.  It is fascinating, delicate, intricate, and vital.  Due to a co-workers friend who has a brain injury we've been talking about the brain a lot at work recently.  And we are all fascinated all over again at the way the brain works and how it controls everything.  It's fascinating how it recovers from injury, what it does to protect itself and therefore the person, etc.  I'm so grateful, obviously, for the brain and I am in complete awe and fascinated all over again by its contributions.