By Google’s definition, grateful is feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; being thankful. I’ve been thinking about this for the past few days. Sarah is right- if you cultivate a grateful heart, you won’t fall into the trap of negativity.
And it is something to cultivate indeed. I have had to cultivate it with breath prayer multiple times a day.
When the washer started acting up and I started to have to be home to get it through its cycle, I looked for the good. And since we have lost consistent water pressure and I have to pressurize the tank every time I want to do dishes or flush the toilet and am now filling the washer with buckets I fill in the tub, I am choosing to acknowledge that I am maintaining my home despite the extra time demands.
I am choosing to be grateful for the inconvenience of water and a washer not working properly, making extra steps and requiring extra time and focus. For whatever the reason it is malfunctioning, it feels like one final push to drive home the home-keeping skills I have been diligently trying to master.
In a sense, it is kindness from God to finish the lessons He and I have been working on. See, I have been striving and trying and falling flat on my face, failing my attempts to keep my home well. Of course now I know all the outside forces working against me which offer a bit of comfort, but I don’t want comfort. This lesson has been over 9 years in the learning- I want victory!
Happily, I can say that I am managing my home and time well! I have more tasks to do now than ever between the extra baking, cooking and water-related tasks but most nights I can enjoy a clean kitchen and time on the couch with Hubby before bed. And I am proud to say that most Sundays now I am able to enjoy hanging out with my family without making Monday a nightmare.
I know as soon as the ground thaws out, Hubby will dig up the water line and find the leak causing the water issues and I am looking forward to reaping the reward of my diligence.
These demands on my time and inconveniences are just temporary and are serving a purpose in my life- they are inevitably creating a habit of staying on task and being efficient with my time.
With this habit created, I will have more time for my family and my fun projects as the time demands lessen. My gratitude is because I am thankful God loves me enough to finish the lesson he started. He created a circumstance for me to put what I have been learning into practice. It feels like this is me with training wheels right now and as things get fixed and my time becomes more free, I will graduate to handling it on my own successfully.
If I hadn’t cultivated a grateful heart and found things to be thankful for on purpose, I would have had the most nightmarish few months, trapped in negativity, making my home and family miserable right along with me. I would have missed the growth and joy of walking closely with my Savior.
Gratitude did protect my heart from negativity. To God be the glory!
