Gratitude

WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN

My mom sent me this email and I love this perspective.

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, "This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received."
I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world. Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.
The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them."
I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth. Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing.
"This is the Acknowledgment Section", my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed.
"How is it that there is no work going on here?" I asked.
"So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments ."
"How does one acknowledge God's blessings?'"I asked.
"Simple," the angel answered. "Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.'"
"What blessings should they acknowledge?" I asked.
"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. If you are reading this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity. If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day . If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world. If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world. If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare. If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair."

What now? How can I start? If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all. Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

From the Acknowledge Dept: "Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people to share it with."

..........Gratitude...........

Gratitude...2009

This post is actually for Monday, but I didn't get to the computer in time tonight (this morning!).
I got a little busy with preparing for the trip.


My necklace came in! If you were able to read and remember my blog entry back in December about my word of the year for 2009, I was fortunate to be chosen as the winner of a necklace. Originally I did the post without knowing about the contest, so winning is an extra bonus.

Check out Laurie at Tip Junkie. She has an incredible site and I get such great ideas from her. Thank you Laurie for the giveaway and thank you Tabetha at Reminisce Heirlooms for the beautiful necklace. I love it! Check out both of these wonderful blogs for great ideas and beautiful jewelry. I love the picture bracelets Tabetha makes.



I plan to wear this often to remind me of everything I have to be grateful for.

I wish you enough......and my WORD for 2009

My sister-in-law Angie sent this email (in red) to me a couple of weeks ago and I knew instantly I wanted to post it for New Year's.
I wish you enough this upcoming year in 2009......

ENOUGH

Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged, and the mother said, "I love you, and I wish you enough."

The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom."

They kissed, and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy, but she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it
would be forever?"

"Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?"

"I am old, and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead, and the reality is - her next trip back will be for my funeral," she said.

"When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?"

She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and she smiled even more. "When we said, 'I wish you
enough,' we wanted the other person to have a life filled with just enough
good things to sustain them."

Then, turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

Again, I wish all of you ENOUGH in 2009!

Tanja, whose blog I follow, chooses a word every year and I really like that idea.
I think my word for 2009 is going to be GRATITUDE.

Definition: the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful

I am going to work on being grateful for what I have and am a part of. It is so easy to get in a rut, get frustrated, get stressed out, and get negative.......however it shouldn't be easy. I have so much to be grateful for!

When the boys want me to read a book with them, put a puzzle together with them, play a game with them, snuggle with them at bedtime....and I'm in the middle of doing something, cleaning something, or have a huge to do list in my head.....stop and be grateful that they want to do that with their mommy - who knows how long that will last! ;)

When Matt has to work late, or go on a trip....instead of complaining, and being exhausted from having to do everything by myself, or missing him (well I can still miss him right?!)....stop and be grateful that he has a job that he is doing extremely well with and allows us to have and do as much as we do.

When I'm frustrated with my job, feel overwhelmed, feel like I'm not making a difference, feel burnt out....stop and be grateful that I still have a job and everyday get to do what I love doing - teach!

I am very grateful for all of our family and friends. How blessed we are! As one of my favorite sayings goes, THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE AREN'T THINGS!

I am going to try to always find the positive side and what I can be grateful for in any situation.....
Help hold me to this......... this is something I want to work on.

Happy 2009 everyone!

(Check out TipJunkie cool idea and all of the wonderful words for 2009! -I'm adding this on to my post after I was given the tip to check out Tip Junkies blog 1/5)