This little book rocked my world

(source)

It's not revolutionary nor necessarily provocative. It doesn't challenge my brain or keep my lying in bed at night pondering its complexities. What it does do is soothe my weary soul.

It's my gratitude journal. At just the right time, I saw this book in a bookstore in Seattle. Immediately, I craved it. Of course I can create my own journal, and of course I can pray the same things verbally. But I didn't and I wasn't. I was in a dark place. For whatever reason, this book was to be my conduit to God.

So, I started this journal with my daughter in what was to be the most difficult time of my life. I might possibly still be there.  But I'm here to tell you: The regular practice of gratefulness has given me a force field against trouble that I've not heretofore experienced. I get down, I get depressed, I curl up in a fetal position every now and then; but darn if I don't get up quicker than before and still thank God for the good that is always there.

God is not only "good" when things go well for my circumstances (promotions! good grades! good bill of health!). God is good when my step-brother/mother-in-law/sister-in-law dies, when my marriage sputters, when my kids go awry, when my husband loses his job. God is good when I don't know up from down.

Choosing to practice gratefulness has made all the difference.

We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.  ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Grateful Mondays

5 things I'm grateful for today:

1.) My life-long friend, Susan.  

2.) Nutella mousse cake. 'Nuff said.

3.) Humble, inspiring athletes like Leo Manzano. 

4.) 23 years of marriage this Sunday.

5.) Insulated water bottles. :)

Did you know that the practice of gratitude makes you happier and healthier? It's by design. What are you grateful for today?

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. ~ Psalm 107:1

A Pep Talk to Myself

Got my third triathlon tomorrow. It's a 'super sprint'. Yeah, whatever. ;)  There's a 300m swim (in a pool, glory hallelujah!), 11 mile bike and 3 mile run.

I would happily, HAPPILY, move a couple of running miles or 100m of swimming over to the bike portion.  Now here's a perfect triathlon for me: 100m swim, 25 mile bike, 2 mile run. See? Perfection. No one else seems to see it that way. Hmmph.

I have to choose my triathlons based on the swim. When people ask, "What triathlon are you training for?" I answer, "The one with the shortest swim." But I'm getting better peeps, slowly but surely, I'm getting better. I only have to stop once now on my way down Barton Springs and once on my way back. It was not so long ago that I stopped three or four times each way. I think I can tread water for a full 15 seconds too without begging for Christ's second coming.

Most of my triathlon training energy has been spent on learning how to swim and overcoming my phobias anxiety in the open water. This means that my running, the thing I've done with the most consistency the last few years, has had to take a back seat (think: back seat of a Greyhound bus). Second to swimming has been learning how to bike with clips and gears and the "big ring" and "small ring" and all that sort of complicated stuff.  Complicated or not, if I knew how much I'd enjoy cycling, I'd have started a long time ago. Not that I'm so terribly speedy, but that's fun stuff. Heck, if I knew how much I'd enjoy all of triathlon training, I'd have started that a long time ago too.

I read an article about Phelps recently and in regards to the 4x200 relay, in which the American team won gold, he said, "It shows that hard work pays off." Okay, I'm a nobody learning how to swim, but he's darn right. So simple. So difficult. Whether it's for the Olympics or just a suburban mom learning how to swim, the same principle applies: consistent and persistent work will get results. Hard work is the "magic bullet" for which so many people quick answers.


It's easy to want to hop around to every boot camp, TZPQX workout and barre-pole-dance thingy hoping that I'll see instant results and sudden prowess in the water (and/or on the bike). Honestly, it can be frustrating to see people gliding up and down Barton Springs while I can't. I was sorta-kinda hoping I'd be further along by now. I have to remind myself that my best bet for getting better is to really stick with my goal -- and give it some time. Centimeter by centimeter, my swimming is improving. Mile by mile, my cycling is improving. 


Didja know that bronze medalists tend to be happier than silver medalists? I looked it up on a hunch after watching the Olympics, and lo and behold, it's been documented. Apparently, bronze medalists are just happy to have won a medal at all. They had to have worked their tail off, and they felt satisfied about their results. Still in the record books. Third in just the, you know... whole world. Wouldn't you be happy? I hope I would.

Viktoria Komova after winning silver (source)

Reese Hoffa after winning bronze (source)

You and I are probably not going to win a gold medal nor a triathlon (if you do, message me, because we need to be better friends ;)).  But I'd like to have the attitude of a bronze medalist tomorrow and in everything I do. (Not that I'm coming in third in the triathlon tomorrow. That would be plain silly.) I've done the math, and here's the equation:

 hard work  

+  grateful attitude 

=  a happy outcome 

Bronze medalists sleep better at night. I'm sure of it. On that note, I should go to bed soon. It's rise and shine at 4:45a.m.  :-)


No one has ever become poor by giving. ~ Anne Frank

All this Chick-fil-a stuff has got me thinking...

Heaven will be wonderful place. 

Grateful Mondays

5 things I'm grateful for today:

1.) That I still have my grandmother (Mamaw) with me.  

2.) The two rocking chairs on my front porch.  

3.) Summer fruit. 

4.) This book. C.S. Lewis was right -- It's really good.

5.) My beautiful, fat, affectionate cat. 

Did you know that the practice of gratitude makes you happier and healthier? It's by design. What are you grateful for today?

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. ~ Psalm 107:1

A Million Pieces of Me

I'm reading Kisses From Katie to my kids right now. It's a book that's simple, easy to read, but profound in a jolt-you-out-of-your-world kind of way. I enjoy reading it to them, but I find myself having to stop and stifle a rolling crying jag every page and a half.  That gets a tad bit annoying to the listener, and it certainly breaks the flow of the story. But if I had a dime for every time I cried inappropriately, I could get tear blocking surgery. More than a few people close to me would appreciate me getting that kind of elective surgery.

But here's the thing. I've avoided this book, although I didn't know too much about it, because I knew it would challenge me in a very uncomfortable way. Sometimes, with dimly lit eyes, I see a pin hole of what I think might be glory. It's a transcendental experience that I can't explain. And I think to myself, "Are you courageous enough to follow the light?" Can you throw off modern comforts, vanity, agenda, and be completely and utterly wrapped up in good? And then the tunnel closes and life resumes as normal.

On the other hand (In contrast? I'm not sure.), I hear messages about finding blessings in the mundane work of everyday life, and I know that's good too. Ann Voskamp has a book, One Thousand Gifts, and she wonders, 'How do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties?' (I have not read the book, but I got the quote from Amazon. :-)) Is this what I need to focus on? Where am I being led? God, I'm quite literal and dense, so puh-lease s-p-e-l-l it out for me.


I don't think, like I suppose some people do : "Are you doing enough?" I feel I'm doing enough for where I am now. (In fact, every day life is cleaning my clock.) I DO think, "Are you courageous enough?" Gandhi famously said, "If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today." This. Kills. Me. For me to follow Christ takes courage more than doing. 


When I was on the side of agnosticism and didn't want to be there, I broke it down. What do I know to be true? It's certainly not houses, cars, jobs, and school. Never anything I could touch or receive worldly recognition for. Some of those things have their certain value, I suppose. What is true is loving people and loving all of God's creation. This is the nub of life. 


I am not an intuitive who sees God in every green light and crossword puzzle. (I'm not trying to be condescending; I'm telling it like it is. I would much rather be an intuitive.) God has to beat me over the head with a skillet to speak to me, I think. But when He beats, He beats hard. Kinda like this. (Always Looney Tunes ftw.) 


I stink at praying, and I stink at reading the Bible. I am most certainly not worthy to comment on the workings of God. And yet, sometimes, I wonder if it's not Him who calls the ridiculous and says, "'Yeah, you.' Silly. I'm talking to you." (Sixteen Candles,  also ftw.  He works through my movie trivia. ;))


Is God asking me to be Voskamp or Katie material?  Perhaps they're not mutually exclusive. Either way, it'll be good. So, I plug, swim, run, bike, wife (yes, it's a verb), and parent along and wait because something is there. I feel it.  


D-E-spite me, God is good. He really is, and THAT'S another thing I know to be true. 


(Didja notice each consecutive paragraph got shorter? I did. Not intentional, but kinda interesting. :))

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. ~Elie Wiesel

Grateful Mondays

5 things I'm grateful for today:

1.) Downton Abbey. I'm slightly addicted.  

2.) My husband's job. 

3.) Rain. I love rain anyway, but after last summer's epic drought, I'm even more appreciative of the bounty. 

4.) Health. 

5.) Having a good friend like Paula to be tortured workout with.  

Did you know that the practice of gratitude makes you happier and healthier? It's by design. What are you grateful for today?

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. ~ Psalm 107:1