I had plans of writing this post on Thursday night to post first thing Friday morning. That never happened. It seems that my little sewing fest earlier in the week wiped me out. Seriously. One night past my bedtime and it takes me days to recover. Days.
Anyway, earlier this week I started a gratitude journal. It's true that having gratitude takes practice. My gratitude friday posts in the past weren't regular or frequent, but they didn't take a lot of effort, mainly because I was in the habit of seeing all those good things in my life. Now, not so much. It takes effort, and I hate that. I'm out of practice, bogged down by paying too much attention to those things that aren't so good. I've decided to practice my gratitude every day with my journal, and on Friday I'll bring back my "gratitude friday" posts to share some of those with you. I'm not promising every Friday, but some Fridays they'll be here.
On this dreary Friday afternoon I have so many things to be thankful for:
- feeling baby kicks inside my belly - such a bazaar feeling, but reassuring.
- hearing Matt play bingo with the kids while I soak in the tub
- enjoying a meal with friends
- Ruby's smooshy puppy dog lips (sometimes I like to just squeeze them between my fingers!)
- gently falling rain that relieves the scorching heat
- the things Ava says - last night she told me "your belly sure is big. how much food you got in there?"
- zinnias from the garden to brighten my window sill
- this little blog of mine which turned 6 years old yesterday. my life wouldn't be the same without it.
- people in my life who listen and encourage (you know who you are!!)
This is only a small sampling of those things that make it to my journal. When you open your eyes and pay attention, there really is so much good around you!
**my gratitude fridays were started after seeing Autum's gratitude friday posts years ago. I'm currently reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp which is bringing the idea gratitude home to me again.
Have a great weekend, friends!
