five minute friday :: {On Gratitude}
Gratitude.
The discovering and the diving into the rhythms of gratitude walked into my life in a dark hour, and, you might say, provided a life line – reshaped my thinking and pointed me back to the giver of life when a life had been taken and my heart unraveled. And learning to offer thanks in those moments of desperation was a necessity, just as learning to turn in gratitude in the abundance – hushed by the goodness of new babies or fireflies, wells up, with intention, yes, but mostly because it can’t be suppressed.
But in the daily, the litanies, there is nothing glorious or tragic to turn this heart from it’s normal course of gaze: namely, myself. The little things that bristle me, the exhaustion of motherhood and daily routines – they usually lead this heart to self-pity, venting, gossip. I have learned, and am learning the hard gratitude, and I have sung praises on mountaintops, but here, now, I am learning to give thanks for the mundane, to let the nothings and somethings sing of His goodness. Slowly, slowly, learning.
Yes, linking up this Friday with Lisa-Jo and the community over at the Gypsy Mama, who invites me & you to write for five unedited minutes:
“For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication. For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.” -Lisa-Jo
This week’s word was gratitude. Tell me, what does the word gratitude stir up in your heart?
