Gratitude Monday

My husband and I are finding that attitude really IS everything. Last night we went out on a date and halfway through our time alone together laughed at how we had gone from feeling like potential cheapskates to then feeling surprisingly hip and confident to then feeling unsure and a little nerdy to finally to feeling like the luckiest couple in town in a matter of, oh, say an hour. Obviously nothing literally changed in our life (same income, same family/relationship status, same clothes on our backs, etc.), but the way we felt about those things, well, that can be like rollerblading on gravel--quite a bit bumpy and too often unpredictable.

As you know from reading my emotions off of my sleeve (aka this blog), life isn't always sunny and maintaining a Christ-centered and Christ-like marriage brings surprising challenges. Last week on Valentine's Day Rory brought me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. Apparently he happened upon a florist with a master's degree in floral arrangement (ahem, one of 80 such degreed floral connoisseurs in the world). Rory asked for an arrangement of sunflowers and roses (totally nailed it, by the way). And this is what the professional created:




It's striking and has not only survived more than seven days in stale water and a sunshine-starved living room, but the green and brown branches have actually blossomed.


That's never happened before. Most of our flowers linger on for a week or so (especially if I am faithful to rinse them, put fresh water in the vase and clip the stems). This time we simply sat back and admired it, hoping to enjoy it for what it was worth. And then it bloomed. New life just growing afresh right there on our dining room table. We regularly stop to watch the miracle.

We're learning to stop regularly and see His miracles in us, too. And hope for many, many more blossoms in our life together.

I have heard that gratitude is part of the Lord's plan for opening our eyes to His miracles...which is why I want to start counting His blessings in my life. Every Monday a blogger whom I don't know but love turns her manic Monday into a Multitude Monday and her example has struck a chord of inspiration with me. She's counting her way up to and beyond 1,000 gifts. Here I go with my first few:

1. Grace
2. The beauty of new life, even if it is just on a branch in a vase on my dining table
3. Relationships that grow and change and sometimes just barely hold on
4. Astounding beauty that you can only see looking into your child's eyes
5. Bonding time--all the time when you have the right attitude
6. A husband who can turn a trip to pick up take-out into a father-daughter bonding experience while Mama enjoys the quiet
7. Quiet
8. "Mi-mi" as Dia calls all music, singing or any other remotely melodious sounds
9. A sister who calls to see if she can just stop by (YES! A thousand times Yes!)
10. Our first real owie complete with "nan-aid" (bandaid)
11. The privilege of showing the world to a three-foot tall blonde beauty who replies "Yeaaahhh...." to everything you show her (AGH! I die.)
12. Date nights
13. Watching your husband fall in love with someone else and feeling nothing but pure joy...
14. Provision: yes, food, water, clothing, shoes, transportation and a roof over our heads. If it weren't for these I wouldn't know where to start.
15. A God who loves by forgiving and saves before I even know to ask
16. A family unit
17. Examples before me who lead me to Him
18. A perfect accomplice in surprising my husband: my accomplished sister
19. His Word
20. That fabulous groundhog--my apologies to the Northerners but I love a long winter in the southwest
21. Learning that most everything makes an excellent toy
22. Being Mama