Crazy, blood pumping morning over here at Gratitude homestead in Blue ridge TX. I was up early making a fire in the wood burning stove, and needed to clear the old ashes out first. We usually the ash on our mulch pile because it’s typically damp, and mixes well for future garden compost. We just got a new shipment of wood chips, so I thought I’d start them in the decomposing process with the extra ash. Well…as soon as I tossed it, I realized, the metal container I was using felt a little “warm”. “Hmmm…maybe there were some embers in there.” I thought. But I was still mentally deprived of coffee and had a young child waiting to start the fire with me inside, so I continued on with my morning. An hour later, when the boys went out to feed the animals, they sprinted back in to yell, “FIRE.” I ran outside to see my little “ash drop” consuming half the mulch pile in a blaze. We tried to turn on the hose, but they were frozen solid from the cold front and nothing came out. We scrambled to find buckets of any kind and ran back and forth from the house to the mulch pile. It was like a non-stop CrossFit workout where your lively hood depends on it. After 30 min, the fire went out and we were exhausted. Gratefully my wife took it with positive energy and said, “well, that’ll help the decomposing process now won’t it.” It reminded her of a Little House on the Prairie episode when Ma had to put out a fire when Pa wasn’t home. I sat with my stupidity all day, and gave a little speech at family dinner tonight, beginning with, “this was all my fault.” I owned it, and thanked everyone for stepping into gear. I made a point to teach how that little decision, with no mal intent, caused a cascade of problems that the whole family had to deal with. Just like how we sin in our lives. Some time we make a decision that is seemingly small, and insignificant, but if left unchecked can turn into an all consuming fire that destroys everything we’ve worked so hard for. It could have been worse. If the wind was in the opposite direction direction, it would have pushed the flame towards our house, it could have made it onto our neighbors land, someone could have been injured. But none of that happened, and for that I can be grateful.

As I focus on the things I am grateful for this morning, I ponder that one of them is fairly unexpected. When John came to our meeting I was mesmerized by the idea of gratitude and how I can make a difference on so many different levels, with our ever knowing the impact of that gratitude. As I told John, I struggle with "sharing the things" I may be doing in response to this forum- but the one thing I feel needs to be said is that I am extremely GRATEFUL that this forum brings reminders of gratitude to me daily. That the little things, the unexpected, the encouragement, the commonality of our spirits to want to impact others, is IMPORTANT. My husband says he hates the term "I appreciate you"...because "we all appreciate what others have done FOR us...so it's relatively selfish and redundant" - while I don't necessarily agree with that statement, it makes me think that there are others that think differently (not wrongly) from me. That's the beauty of this forum. Whatever it brings, it brings encouragement, hope, kindness and love. (And those are universal heart desires.) And, for that, I am grateful to John for opening a dialogue, a platform, and a resource to show that gratitude in a tangible way, and also one that may help others. I don't feel it was by "luck" or "chance" that he took this on- I believe it is a calling from God that he is answering- maybe even a "ministry". And, even if he isn't, his purpose is to make this earthly world a better place. So, I just want John to know that his impact is going to touch each of us in different ways, but for me, it was pivotal. THANK YOU!

Today I am morning the loss of a family member. It was completely unexpected and way too soon and has left me regretting the cards I didn’t send and the invites I didn’t extend often enough. I took for granted that he would always be in my life and we will chat later.. Now there is no more later. So in honor of him, I am going through my entire list of family and close friends who mean the very world to me and who I often put on the back burner assuming they will always be here and I am writing each and every one of them a note to tell them how much they mean to me. Life is fragile. Tell the ones you care about how much you love them. You never know how much they might need to hear it.

I wanted to share something that happened to me! I am a pretty good mom. Always room for improvement. I am never the mom that shows up to the school parties and fund raisers with homemade treats or great crafts and games. I am there, but never have the time or confidence to go the extra mile and I secretly judge myself for this shortcoming. There is a mom whose daughter has gone to my son’s school. We have known each other in passing for 8 years. She is that rock star mom. She is the mom that makes all of us other “bad or less than” moms feel more guilt and shame. I am ashamed to say that I envied her and it kept me from connecting. So… I wrote a thank you note. I thanked for always being the mom that makes the kids school parties a huge success. I thanked her for always taking photos of the events that she attended and making a point to share them with the other moms and dads that couldn’t attend. I thanked her for her creativity and her cooking. I recognized her efforts and how hard it must be to manage it all and have a full time job. She is truly amazing and I let that flow in my words. I sheepishly handed her the card and went about my day. She chased me down after school and as the tears started to flow she thanked me for thanking her. She thanked me for recognizing everything she does and that it isn’t easy but she loves it. NO ONE HAD EVER THANKED HER. 8 years of multiple holiday parties, school events, PTA meetings, fundraisers and NO ONE had thanked her. WOW. I told her that we all see her but were secretly judging ourselves for our shortcomings and it kept us from reaching out. I promised her that even though I won’t have the most spectacular homemade contribution for future parties, I will be reaching out weeks ahead of every party to see how I can help her. And now, we have a date for coffee next week!

Today I had the honor of speaking to a group of Real Estate professionals in Coos Bay OR. On my way back to Portland for a flight home, I chose the coast route, which added 50 min to the trip, and was worth every second. I’m often working in my office, staring at a screen. Taking the time to enjoy God’s splendor is something I do not take enough time to do. You don’t always have to go across the world to see natural beauty. You just have to be willing to slow down enough to see what’s already always been there. This happened to be one of the greatest views I’ve experienced in my life.