The Person Nearest you

 

Daily Gratitude Year 10-Day 219: Today, I am grateful for "the person nearest you".

"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you. " -Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa has some beautiful quotes. She lived out her words, always looking to touch the lives nearest her. She looked beyond what world thought she should see, and she saw the needs.

What if we all started each week focusing on the one (or two) people we can help?

Who is closest to us... at home and the places we go? Who could use a little extra hand or word of encouragement? We won't get it right every time, but the smallest helping hand or simple act of kindness can make a difference.

We don't need to worry about numbers or perfection. God can take our imperfect attempts and use them to meet a need and impact a life, even if it is the smallest way. God uses the ones who make themselves available.

Jesus didn't recruit the ones the world saw as the most qualified. He called the ones who made themselves available. He still uses the ones who only needed to hear, "Follow me."

He gave us eyes to see, emotions to feel and hands to serve. We all feel unqualified at times. Do the thing in front of you. See the need. Act with love. Love is always the right answer.

" I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings." -Hosea 6:6

"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good." -Romans 12:9

We truly glimpse the heart of God when we learn to see the needs He sees and respond. We can start with the person nearest to us.

Today, I am grateful for "the person nearest you".

Plants That Attract Butterflies

Daily Gratitude Year 10-Day 218: Today, I am grateful for plants that attract butterflies.

My nearly lifelong friend, Roxanne Stelle, has me obsessed with zinnias. Mama Ina Mae loved them, too. Now, I know why. They are a ton of "wow" and "pow" in the garden with not a lot of effort. I am finding them magical. Most of mine came from flowers harvested from seeds Roxanne shared.

Every glimpse is a reminder of our long friendship and the way we are kindred spirits, no matter the time that passes in between. She is beautiful in every way.

This is a picture I borrowed... well, stole... from her Facebook page. Isn't it amazing? The butterflies love the zinnias and my sedums won't be long from flowering and attracting them, too. Isn't nature glorious?

Butterflies are a constant reminder that after dark, closed in, and uncomfortable seasons, there is new life. When the butterfly stretches out its wings for the first time, it takes a little time. It isn't instant. Their new wings take time to prepare for flight.

Plants that attract butterflies are important. They invite the butterflies to bring us constant reminders that our lives are written in chapters. Not all will be easy. Some will seem dark. Some will take forever. Some will be short-lived. Some will be beyond beautiful.

When we were kids, there was a commercial that stated, "You can't fool Mother Nature." The commercial was meant to be funny, but there was a truth in that statement that runs deep. Nature is God's creation. Trying to fool with or neglecting the balance of nature has consequences.

"The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever." -Psalm 119:60

We were instructed to care for the Earth in all of its cycles. It was an important assignment.

"The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it." -Genesis 2:15

We reap what we sow. Sow certain plants and you will reap the joys of watching the butterflies.

Today, I am grateful for plants that attract butterflies.

Ceiling Fans

 

Daily Gratitude Year 10-Day 217: Today, I am grateful for ceiling fans.

Some things are fashionable. Some things are functional. I need ceiling fans!

I don't like how stale a closed house can become and there are times a house has to be closed up for heat, humidity and allergies.

The ceiling fan helps cool things down and comfort is always a priority in making a house a home. Fashionable or not, we choose to live with ceiling fans.

I am grateful for the manufacturers who make them more fashionable.

Today, I am grateful for ceiling fans.

Salt

 Daily Gratitude Year 10-Day 216: Today, I am grateful for salt.

Salt makes everything taste better. If I have to choose between sweet and salty, I choose salt. In fact, I love dark chocolate with sea salt. So even my favorite sweets have a little salt in them.

I know that moderation is good in all things, including salt, but salt is something to celebrate.

In ancient days, spices were valued like precious metals and gems. Salt was even used to seal the deal of the most trusted treaties or agreements.

The phrase "covenant of salt" (Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5 and Leviticus 2:13) occurs only three times in the Bible. A covenant is an agreement between two or more parties. An agreement that involves salt symbolizes one that is meant to be perpetual, not corruptible and indissoluble. In ancient custom, salt was indispensable at formal meals. Formal meals that followed a ratification of friendship and alliance would include salt. There was security and trust in a “salt treaty “. God's promise to David that his would be a "perpetual throne" was considered to be a salt treaty. From the House of David would come the promised Messiah.

(I find all of this so interesting. Sorry if it is boring to some...but the Old and New Testament connections always feel like a mystery unfolding.)

God holds eternity in His hand. Our grasp of perpetual and forever has human limitations. We say things like "I took forever in the drive through line." "Forever" is a word we use but have not really lived. How do we wrap our human minds around eternity?

We were called to be salt and light to the world. Do we just add flavor or are we the perpetual carriers of the Good News?

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." -Matthew 5:13

Be salty. Stay salty.

Today, I am grateful for salt.

Peace

 

Daily Gratitude Year 10-Day 215: Today, I am grateful for peace.

My dear college roomie married a "Peace". Isn't that a great last name? She has worn it well for almost 35 years. She and her honey met in the first months of our freshman year. When then married, she gained more than a husband (and he is pretty terrific), she gained a great last name.

How do we define peace? People talk about it all the time, but can they put it into words? It is a goal to have a peaceful home. Peace is not something to underestimate. In the calmness, there is a power that flows from the throne of His grace and mercy.

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33 NLT 

We don't gain an exemption from trials and sorrows. We do gain the freedom in knowing that it isn't over until it is over; and when it is really over, we win because He already conquered death. We can be at complete peace. Perfect peace.

In Him, there is no darkness!

Whatever the trial or sorrow, we can trust The Overcomer.

Today, I am grateful for peace.

Pictures That Take Us Back

 

Daily Gratitude Year 10-Day 214: Today, I am grateful for pictures that take us back.

I hit the brother jackpot (honestly... in sisters, too)! The one God gave me by birth and the ones God gave me by marriage. They care deeply about our boys. Even from a distance, they have been amazing uncles.

The brother in this picture, Monte, changed his address to heaven a little over a year ago. I am so grateful for pictures that pop up and take me back to the moments.

This picture was just outside Beaches and Cream Soda Shop at Disney's Beach club resort. It is a family favorite, and always on our list of places we like to visit when we are in Florida. Monte worked at Yacht and Beach at one point so he loved to visit. The staff would greet him like an old friend. Old pictures take us back.

I love going through vintage pictures of family and friends. You see how genetics are passed on the future generations in smiles, eyes, chins, nose, and how they stand. Everyone knows Chase looks like Randy, but the older Walker gets, the more I see my brother, Matthew, in him. The way they walk, talk... and heaven help us... think! We used to joke that I was raising his son and he had my daughter. Old pictures help us document the legacy of looks and even how family members resemble each other when laughing.

Sometimes I see myself in my cousin, Cheryl. Other times, I think I look like Aunt Bonnie... whom I called "Aunt Mama" because even nurses on the maternity ward thought I was her daughter when my cousin Tara Jo had her first baby. They told her, "your other daughter was here". Aunt Bonnie laughed. I am not sure she even corrected them. Aunt Bonnie and Mama are together in heaven and the old pictures become more priceless. Pictures preserve the details and sweep us back in time as we reminisce.

I am grateful I have lived in a time with photographs. The Love Of My Life has indulged me with a good camera and a few lenses. My phone is my camera that is always in my hand. When stuck in a waiting room, my photo library on my phone can take me on a sentimental journey.

You know, we all love a good picture when we get one. We all dread a bad one. I am reminded that our God is not fooled by picture perfect snapshots. He looks at the heart.

"The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” -1 Samuel 16:7

This picture was a Facebook memory. I'm glad it popped up.

Today, I am grateful for pictures that take us back.

3,499 Days of Gratitude

 

Daily Gratitude Year 10-Day 213: Today, I am grateful for 3,499 days of Gratitude!

This is year ten. Nine completed. Year ten is more than half over. The day count is:

365 X 9 + 2 (Leap Years) + 312 = 3,499. Tomorrow will mark 3,500 daily posts on Facebook.

Will ten be the end? I am still praying about it. Facebook has been my primary source of documenting although, I did start saving it on a blogpost at "fromvaleriesheart" for non-Facebook friends. There are over 2,500 journal entries there.

The history of Daily Gratitude goes back to November 2012. It was one of those seasons that was full of challenges. I had left a job, a place, patients and co-workers I loved, knowing God was moving me, but I didn't know why. ( Hindsight is truly 20/20.) I was learning a new job, new people, my Uncle Lee was in his last days with Huntington's (the same disease my Mama was fighting), and my friend, who was more like a sister, Jill, received the news her cancer had returned on Halloween 2012... my birthday. I know there was more tough stuff in that season, but those things stand out in my memory.

I never question the sovereignty of God. I never claim to understand His ways. Still, years of knowing him as Lord and Savior has taught me to trust his heart, even when I have no explanation for His ways.

I missed starting the "30 Days of Gratitude" in November of 2012. I challenged myself to post every day in January 2013, because I always need help with my attitude about the cold winter months. 31 Days. It seemed like a big commitment at the time. January 2013 came and the discipline began.

I love writing in the morning, but as long as something was posted every day, it counted. In the beginning, they weren't much. I intentionally looked for the "small things" that are really the big things. Nothing was off limits. At the end of 30 days, I realized it really did make a difference. An attitude of gratitude is a powerful thing.

"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:15

Why is it God's will for us? Because, in gratitude we find a closer, deeper walk with the One who loves us more than He loved his own life.

In our "all circumstances", we know His nearness. Our relationship with Him is not only about the good times and good days. "Oh Heaven's no!" , as Mama Ina Mae would say. We feel His blessings when life is good, but we depend on Him when things fall apart.

When I started Daily Gratitude in January 2013, I had no idea Dad would die suddenly in April 2013 and Jill in September 2014. In choosing gratitude, there was a strange peace most of the world struggles to understand. I learned a great deal about gratitude from Mama.

Both Mama and one of her best friends lost daughters unexpectedly, each with its own unique twist of tragedy. Mary Beth died on July 11, 1988 on a youth ministry trip in a freak caving accident. April died of an undiagnosed heart defect on August 26, 1995 while serving in the US Air Force in Okinawa, two weeks before she was supposed to marry her Marine. In a blink, life would change. Mama Ina Mae and sweet Ethel are two of the most grateful souls I have ever known. They learned to live with grief... in gratitude.

We don't get "over" the big griefs in life. We plow through them. We make peace with them. We let fires of grief forge us into someone new. Gratitude is a better plow than bitterness. It is easier to live with, too. Anger is part of the process, but it is exhausting and hard on those around us. When we learn to sit with grief, in gratitude, we are forever changed. His strength pours into our broken places and His light into our darkness.

Sorry about the long post. It took an unexpected twist. Thanks for reading if you stuck with it to the end. (Love you Ethel and Don).

Today, I am grateful for 3,499 days of Gratitude!