Oh Peace!! Well not really even though I have hauled the lap top down to my room, set myself up on my bed and shut the door I can still hear the chaos down the hall. So its semi-peace I guess....
I am actually unsure of what to write this afternoon. Do I call it writers block? I have been very uninspired of late. I hate it when that happens.
The first official week of winter has come and gone. Winter is definitely not my most favorite months but in saying that this week as been a week of fresh mornings and beautifully stunning days. Days I can get washing dried on the line and the kids can play outside, days where my girls somehow manage to don their bathing suits and have a winter afternoon water fight with the hose (without me knowing of course). Days where the kids spend afternoons up trees, constructing tyre swings and rolling tyres down from the top of our section and down the driveway. Days where my favorite wee 1 year old can spend hours plodding around in his gumboots, picking up sticks, leaves, rocks and other treasures of nature only to bring them inside and leave them in unlikely places.
Those are the days where its easy to be thankful isn't it. Blissful happy days. We feel good, we feel energised, we enjoy life and in turn we are thankful. Thankful for the life we have been blessed with. Life is good. This is the time where we only see and feel the good, we are motivated to get things done and we accomplish more than we set out to.
Unfortunately sometimes those days can be few and far between, even for the best of us. The clouds come - literally, the rain, the cold, the grey, the damp, the wind and life just doesn't hold that some lustre as it did maybe even in the previous week (or even day). Oh my aren't we a fickle lot! Guilty here! I can't deny it. Winter days get the better of me and sometimes its hard to see and feel past the grey days, its hard to be thankful. Yes I know we are thankful (there aren't too many that would admit to not being thankful) but to FEEL thankful is a different story entirely.
God tells us in his word to be thankful. In fact he says it an awful lot throughout the bible. So it must be pretty important then. We are to be thankful in the midst of those blissful days (easy!) and also on those not so blissful days (not so easy). But the Lord has made them both and he is good.
"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good" Psalm 136:1
"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything" Ephesians 5:20
Having an attitude of thankfulness is not for the benefit for God but entirely for our own benefit and well-being. It takes the focus off of ourselves, what we may have accomplished or gained, our own prowess and even our own issues and shortcomings. It also takes away our intense focus on what we don't have, can't do, won't get and what others have, can do or will get. Being thankful puts our focus and our thoughts on others and essentially God. You can't be thankful for yourself and you don't go around thanking yourself. Being thankful recognizes that God has blessed you and loved you, that others have loved you, made you smile and laugh and generally had an input into your life in a positive way. How can you not feel better after all of that?
Before I leave you for this week, I'll give you an example from my own life, of my attitude depending what kind of day it is, how tired I might me, what is going on in my life, how stressed I might be etc. Remember when I said we are fickle. Guilty!
Blissful sunny carefree day......I love my house and where we live. I am thankful that we have a big beautiful home that is filled with character and heart. I love the fact that we can open up the doors wide and have an amazing indoor/outdoor flow. I am thankful that the rooms are big and the living area is very functional for our family and that we can have a large number of guest all at once without being squashed. I am ever so thankful for my kitchen, that it is just perfect to be entertaining the guest we have. I love our yard the trees, our garden, the fact that we have a swimming pool, space for chickens etc.
Grey, cold, damp winters day...I am tired of living where we have flies, flies and more flies. The large high-ceiling rooms are hard to heat and keep warm get me down. Bigger rooms leads to bigger messes. The trees oh the trees that drop their leaves all winter and make a terrible mess. My list could go on and on when I am in this kind of mood...ugly isn't it.
I need to focus on the good, remember nothing is perfect - NOTHING. Remember all the blessings and amazing things that God has done for us and all the wonderful people (family and friends) that we are surrounded by, the health and safety of those people and the free and beautiful country we live in. And be THANKFUL!
What are you thankful for?
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| View from our front yard - a yard that I do love! |
Yip! We have a big oak tree that is continually shedding it's leaves and blowing indoors. Actually our neighbour would frequently head outside with a plastic bag to pick up said leaves that had blown onto her verge...yeah city living! Can relate and enjoyed your post! Thanks for sharing!
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