Everyone has something to teach

 

Gratitude Year 10 - Day 45: Today, I am grateful everyone has something to teach. 

Every person, big and small, has something they can teach. You don't have to have big degrees to be a teacher. Each one of us can be blessed by those around us with humble backgrounds, but much to teach. We must learn to pause and listen. 

We had a sweet, quiet, little gal who cleaned our offices when I worked at St. Jude. She had the sweetest heart and the kindest spirit. She had a gentle wisdom that saw through people. If she spoke, I listened. Sometimes she offered encouragement. Other times, simple wisdom. Simple wisdom is rich and pure. 

"Every person you meet knows something you don't; learn from them." -H. Jackson Brown, Jr

The people who cross our path from different spaces and places bring a richness to the table. It is so easy to look at the "most important" person in the room. Celebrities are always trying to raise their status by carefully choosing their entourage. It isn't who you hang out with, it is who you know. Sadly, there is a great deal of unhappiness in those circles. 

I love how Jesus selected his disciples. He didn't look for perfect people. He sought out the wounded and the weary. He engaged the boisterous and the bossy. Each brought something to the table they could use to teach others. 

Look at Paul, who knew how to make tents. I imagine him working with his hands and sharing the gospel at the same time. The sons of thunder knew fish and the sea, they had things they could teach. Matthew understood taxes. Martha could teach meal planning and Mary the art of hospitality. Everyone has something to teach.

Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. -Proverbs 1:2-3 

I am grateful for those who have taught me so many things over the course of my days on the planet. I pray God grants me a few more, as I know I have so much more to learn. I am grateful for the many teachers in my life. 

Today, I am grateful everyone has something to teach. 

Love Notes

Gratitude Year 10 - Day 44: Today, I am grateful for love notes from God. 

Twenty-one scriptures that remind us of God's crazy love for this human race. I've given up trying to make sense of it. My gratitude for his tenacious hope for his creation and unfailing love will echo into eternity. Forever unworthy, but love doesn't measure worth and worthiness.  Love simple chooses to love... and God is love. 

"I have loved you with an everlasting love." -Jeremiah 31:3

Such a sweet way to frame it. An everlasting love has no end. Forever and ever, amen! 

Who do you send "love notes"? There are so many ways to post an "I love you" these days. Post-it notes, texts messages and emails provide instant ways. 

My favorites are still the hand written notes- although I find I am slower than ever at getting notes mailed out. In this season of instant technology, written notes become even more precious. I have "love notes" tucked away in special places from family, friends and other loved ones. 

Enjoy the love notes that come your way this week. 

Today, I am grateful for love notes from God. 

Feel It

 

Gratitude Year 10 - Day 43: Today, I am grateful for the love we can feel.

We all know life has complicated moments. Simplicity becomes more beautiful when life gets messy. I think it is why the wisdom of Winnie the Pooh and friends always seems spot on. It is usually simple and profound at the same time. 

Piglet: "How do you spell 'love'? 

Pooh: "You don't spell it, you feel it." 

Feelings can be unreliable, but when love is seeking the good of another before our own wants, needs and desires, it uncomplicates things quite a bit. Sure, love is a risk because it makes us vulnerable, but it makes it sweet and precious, too. 

"“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." -John 3:16

Some feelings reflect what we believe in the deepest part of our heart... not always out of physical evidence but because we know without a doubt what is true. Some say it takes courage. I think it is deeper than that. When we have tasted the full forgiveness and rich love of Jesus, we can't help but feel His truth.  

"...everyone who believes in him."

It is not what we do. It is what we believe. 

Today, I am grateful for the love we can feel.

True Love

 

Gratitude Year 10 - Day 42: Today, I am grateful for true love. 

Love. At Valentine's Day, it is thought to be romance, flowers and chocolate. These things are fun and festive, but are they true love? I don't think so. 

Love is bigger, better and not quite as pretty and refined. Real love takes commitment and work. It means learning to love the imperfections as much as the wonderful. Love the "less than perfect" and the gifts differently... but with the same kind of tenacity. 

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged." -1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Love is patient is one of my favorite thoughts. It doesn't hurry. It waits. It is a part of love that is the most selfless. It is not jealous, boastful, proud or rude. In other words, it is, also, not self-centered. It is not irritable. What is irritating becomes endearing because of love. Love is a choice everyday. It keeps no record of failures and missed targets. Love forgives. 

 "Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins." -1 Peter 4:8 

Love, well tended, is the gift that keeps on giving. It keeps us stretching, growing and fully living. 

Today, I am grateful for true love. 

Spare Moments

 

Gratitude Year 10 - Day 41: Today, I am grateful for spare moments.

I think this is a first. I've never thought to give thanks for spare moments. The unplanned extra few minutes to savor things like art, baking, woodworking, crafting, quilting or a conversation at a neighbors fence. I love spare moments. 

"Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spare moments recharge us, invigorate us and bring delight to an ordinary day. So much of life is lived out by the clock... to the minute. What an extraordinary thing it is when you have more minutes than tasks to complete! 

Extra time is more precious than gold. How we spend our time reflects our values and what is truly important. 

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples who were with him had to figure out how to proceed. Things were not as they had been. What were they to do with what they knew and what they had experienced? They responded with praise. 

"And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God." -Luke 24:53

They would figure out what came next in time, but for that moment, they embraced the wonder of what they had seen and heard with Jesus. They paused and fully lived in the moment. 

Today, I am grateful for spare moments.

The Element of Fun

 

Gratitude Year 10 - Day 40: Today, I am grateful for the element of fun. 

In most tasks we can find something that makes the, more bearable... and even fun. 

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun." - Mary Poppins

We hated to clean our rooms as kids. Mama Ina Mae was nervous during storms. I will never forget speed cleaning to the song, "Hava Nagila" as a storm roared outside. Each time the song sped up, we cleaned faster and faster. It felt so silly and the work aspect disappeared. Mama was there to supervise, so I know it was not a "shove it in the closet" solution. We did the work correctly, and had some fun, too. Mama found a purpose and an excellent distraction from the storm. 

So many sweet memories can be triggered by an image or a song. Combine the two and the memory is set.

Today, I am grateful for the element of fun. 

Don't Look Back

 

Gratitude Year 10 - Day 38: Today, I am grateful for reminders to not look back. 

This is one of my all-time, forever favorite prints from the magnificent Mary Engelbreit. This is the print that made me a fan. She draws so many little details into her drawings and usually has a quote in the design. Collecting quotes and mixing them with art delights my soul. 

We all make decisions every day. Good and bad. What we eat, what we wear, where we go and how we spend our daily gift of 24 hours. How we spend our days reflects our priorities and values. 

One of the ways we waste precious minutes is time spent beating ourselves up over things in the past we cannot change. "Don't look back." is a reminder to own our decisions. Even the bad ones. We learn from them and move on.  Life doesn't have an undo button. 

Recently, I was looking at Genesis 19 and "Lot's wife":

 "But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt." -Genesis 19:26

God had spared them the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, but Lot's wife looked back. Angels literally ripped Lot and his family from death's door, but a part of Lot's wife was struggling to leave the place they had called home. Behind her was a place so sinful God reigned down His justice without flinching, but she could not leave without looking back. 

God knew Lot's wife's heart. He knew the reasons she looked back instead of forward. We can only wonder. In her situation, would I have looked back, too? I hope not, but how many times have I lamented the things I did or did not do? 

Looking back on things that are "no longer an option" is wasted energy. 

Today, I am grateful for reminders to not look back.