On An Attitude of Gratitude

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." -- Melody Beattie

I am of the custom of camping onto life principles oftimes. During my morning walk today, I was listening to a podcast of one of my favorite radio hosts when I heard him quote this in answering a respondent. It welled within me some deep emotions that took me back to earlier days of my life. In 1980, I was in my late teens, I had lost my father the previous year, I had just impetuously quit my position with a local factory due to anger and immaturity, and I was a confused young man. It was the most difficult period of my life. I had no direction, no depth of experience to draw on, no job skills and no money. Surrounding that, my family had nothing either. My mother had a debilitating disease and we subsistied on a meager social security pension. We were in a deep hole and what little I could muster by mowing yards, sling blading ditches, and picking fruit coukl do little to stem the tide of lack. I look back on those days and could see the seeming hopelessness in those circumstances, but there is always hope. My younger brother had a part-time night job at a local chicken place. For a period of a year or so, we had chicken every night. Sometimes we had the side items, corn, potatoes, beans, etc. You would think that we would have turned into a yard-bird complete with feathers and beak!

I can see those days and fathom the Hand of God in His provision! I am so grateful for those times. We are stronger when we sustain the gales of these circumstances. Out of the ashes arose a child more confident in His Creator, a young man more confident to stand on his own, a father who wanted better for his children. Our lives are measured in seasons. How do you weather those storms? Can you draw on the depths of what you have amidst the privation of what you do not? Can you recognize that life is of great value regardless of what you have, possess, your credentials?

You know by standards of utility, my family and I do not have much now. We live in a fairly small home but in my present estimation its a mansion. Often I am overwhelmed at the cost of living here in Washington DC; am snowed under by the stressful and frantic pace of life and then I close my eyes and am transported to place of great joy, to small townhome in Burke, Virginia. To a place where the chaos is overwhelmed by solitude. A place where the voice of my sweetheart calms, a place where my precious daughter sings her beautiful pieces for school, a place of laughter where my quick-witted son spreads delightful humor and a place of fantasy where my youngest's playtime is spread all over the house....a beauty shop, a nail salon! Yeah, I am okay now. I am at peace and I am clear about that. How about you friend? Now what's for supper? I think I will have chicken......yeah, I'm southern.