I am pleased to say that this family is pretty good about focusing on gratitude. When things are tough, we generally remind each other to take a step back and look around at what we do have, and suddenly that bump in the road does not seem so bad. We pray with our kids before dinner and bed, and aside from a few random requests from Jake (as well as some lovely ones, like "help us to serve better" and "keep us safe"), 99% of their little prayers are pure thanks. "Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Jacob, and ME!" (if Lilly is praying) and my favorite, "thank you for the church, thank you for the steeple, and thank you for opening the doors and there's all the people." I definitely need to record them so I can keep that precious memory with me always… hearing their little voices speak to the Creator is something that is so very sweet and never gets old. It can turn any bad day right around. But even thought we do a pretty good job, I do wonder how many little things I miss in a day because I am running the kids around or I am stressed because I have nothing to make for dinner, or just because I got up on the wrong side of the bed. I saw this video today and fell in love with the idea… I have tried a Project 365 before and failed miserably (mainly because I was trying to take "real" photos with manual settings from my "fancy camera" rather than just snapping shots with my iPhone), but I am hoping this will be easier because of the heartbeat behind it. Check it out:
http://www.upworthy.com/you-take-zillions-of-photos-with-your-cellphone-why-not-try-something-new-with-them?g=2&c=upw1
I am sure in the course of a year I will repeat many things over and over, but I look forward to discovering those patterns. I look forward to being more thankful. And I look forward to putting more positivity out in the world… not to boast, but rather just to remind people to stop and look around for a minute. I'm going to try and use my Instagram account, and if I can ever get the feed to work right again I'm hoping they'll appear on the sidebar, but if I can find the time then I will try and post them here once a week or every ten days or so. And since I've already missed two days of the New Year, I'll catch you up:
January 1st:
Definitely most grateful for my relationship with Christ, which grows daily. Since I did not have a picture to really use for that, I'll go this route: grateful for my daily devotional (and the YouVersion app for making so many accessible). This one is from the Rick Warren devotional I read last year (and am a little behind, so still have a few days left). I love it because I can read it anywhere, and sometimes it's the only little bit of spiritual truth and/or scripture that I get in a day. I'm always working on that, but like everybody, some days it just gets put off to the point that you wake up the next day and realize you never did it. This year I am starting a Joyce Meyers one this year called "Power Thoughts" and want to do a better job of reading "Jesus Calling For Kids" everyday with the little ones. That one is probably my favorite if you have ever considered doing a daily devotional plan
January 2nd:
Oh how I love these three people. More than life. More than words can express.
Have you ever done a Project365 or the 365Grateful project? Let me know if you'll be doing one in 2014 so I can follow along!
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