An Attitude of Gratitude

After four days of posting about three things I am grateful for on Facebook, I decided to bring my final posting to the blog. To ruminate on gratitude. The exercise involved 5 days of posting three things each day...what a great way to remind ourselves that there is indeed much to be grateful for.

I have owned a gratitude journal for quite a while, but I don't use it. Not because I don't practice gratitude, but because I choose to journal in one location. Most of my journal entries begin with what I am grateful for...though sometimes life's drama gets in the way of an attitude of gratitude and I find myself whining to my journal, complaining about this, that or the other.

So today I am grateful for a rest-filled weekend. After a harried two weeks involving travel and conference participation, I am just glad to take it easy this weekend. I am not always very disciplined about rest...but am learning. So I slept in, had a slow breakfast, and then just took it easy most of today.

Philly Skyline August 4, 2014

As I have ruminated on the fact that we still have not been matched with birth parents so many months after our home-study was approved, I chose to be grateful, to find the silver lining in the waiting game. So rather than focus on the frustrations of waiting, I am looking towards what I have been able to accomplish this summer - because I had cancelled all my international trips while we had baby Zawadi at home, I found myself, for the first time in more than 8 years, not having to teach, change jobs/move or do long travel this summer. That meant I could push through some projects that needed focused attention, much harder to accomplish during the school year. So that's my silver lining...and am grateful for that. Off course I'd much rather have been enjoying being a new parent :-)

Presenting a paper at the Academy of Management meeting,
Philadelphia August 5th, 2014

As the summer began, I was nervous about being able to fill up the Lorentzsen Center for Faith and Work program for the upcoming year. I'd started off being told 'no' by the first two people that I invited as speakers...and was quite afraid that the trend would continue. I am so grateful that there is a full program of luncheons and a final conference for the 2014-2015 school year, for all the many business people and organizational leaders I have interacted with this summer, and am looking forward to a great year! So am starting this new academic year off on a good note, a hope-filled heart, an attitude of gratitude. 

In everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18)