GRATITUDE AND GRACE

This is my nearly 90 year old Father's hand. With his hands he delivered more than 1,000 babies in his career as an ObGyn Physician. He loved giving complimentary care to all pastor's wives and they swarmed to his office from all over the Atlanta area. Holding his hand today gives me much joy and gratitude in my heart for the gift he has been in my life. He truly is a man of God, a man of Grace.



As a 50 something woman, I have been thinking a lot about gratitude and grace. I'd like to claim that I awaken each morning filled with gratitude, but that would not be honest! I can say that I would like to start each new day with both gratitude and grace, so perhaps this post will inspire you and I to do just that!

Ardath Rodale, an author, wrote in a 2005 article in PREVENTION magazine, that she "likes to think of gratitude and grace as her two hands working together. Grace is the power, beauty, and love of God that is always around us; gratitude gives us the eyes to see it."

As a 50 something woman, I have issues that have weighed on me through the years, as I am sure you do, as well. When I consider the challenges that I have personally faced in my own life, being thankful for them, seems to help me grow more these days.
Helen Keller said, "I thank God for my handicaps for through them I found myself, my work, and my God."

I have come to realize that this journey called life is never completely tranquil and smooth. All of us have experienced difficulties, mountains that are hard to climb. My nearly 90 year old Father told me yesterday as we were walking his mile, that we learn to live with the tragedies life deals us. So, as a 50 something woman, I would like to learn to look at my personal battles as opportunities to grow stronger in character and therefore, I want to learn to be more grateful for them.
Is that asking too much of myself? I think not. Perhaps when we learn to say "thanks", more often, we will open our hearts to daily miracles that happen all around us.
And Henry Beecher said,
"GOD'S GRACE IS THE OIL THAT FILLS THE LAMP OF LOVE."

May your day, your week, and your coming months be filled with both GRATITUDE and GRACE.