I’m trying to write three things a day that I am thankful for. I got the idea from a book written by Ann Voskamp called One Thousand Gifts. A friend challenged her to write 1000 things she loved and she ended up writing what she calls 1000 gifts, a thousand graces, what she was thankful for and it led to a book. The effort also changed her life. It’s hard to sit and read and write when many of us have TV on from waking to sleeping. I was getting into the habit of looking at the news upon rising but I realized, as I watched bombing and shooting, that I’m not able to change anything much except my own heart… So I try every morning to grab my Magnificat (daily prayer book) and get out to the lake and find 3 amazing gifts. Often chirping birds and turtles are my companions during sunrise , and I sit and experience the great outpouring of God’s Grace as light turns from pink to sunlight and the day does whatever the weather for the day is supposed to do. During the half hour of sunrise to day, I thank God for clouds that keep us south Floridians cool and bring rain that our parched winter grass needs, I thank God for the animals and birds that treat our yard as their dinner table. I even thank God, begrudgingly it’s true, for the giant iguana my neighbor Kathie calls grandpa who eats my beautiful hibiscus flowers. If I get lucky, I see the flowers in full bloom before he crawls in to nosh. I continue the daily list for the half hour of daily Mass when I pray for those I’ve promised to pray for and always for my Mom who gave me great forward thinking and generous genes! The list could be long, but write the best three every day! Begin a 1000 Gratitudes journal and write 3 thank yous to God every day! You might have a tough time at the start. You can only write "chirping white birds" so many times before you have to go deeper! I intend to read Voskamp’s book in 2016. Might be a life changer. God bless you.
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