Am I Grateful?

I purchased a note pad years ago that I used for doodling, jotting notes to myself and other miscellaneous activity. It was 5″x7″ and quite handy. It was a pretty note pad with a tender floral design at the bottom of each page. I like things like that–flowered pages in a notebook, sticky notes with designs or quotes on them–items I use daily that have an added quality to them. Pretty little additions to daily use items make them so cute and fun to use, don’t you think?

Not so long ago I finished the note pad and found such a wonderful surprise as I tore away the last page. There was a beautifully written statement on the cardboard backing done up in lovely calligraphy framed in a tiny floral border that read boldly, “Start each day with a grateful heart.” What a surprise! I was expecting a plain brown cardboard piece ready to recycle at the back of that note pad and I had used it for months without realizing the special surprise waiting for me printed on the backing. How fun it was to find it! How fun it was to frame it! How nice it is to glance at it multiple times a day as it sits on my desk. I see it even now, beckoning me with its pretty little reminder that I have things to ponder and blessings to count daily.

I hope you can begin your day with a grateful heart. Certainly trials will come and worries will be present, but even so, God would have us look for the gifts of life that are not to be taken for granted: family, friends, sunlight, a roof over my head, meals at my table, neighbors who wave, a loving pet, people who offer me their space in the grocery line, M&Ms, buds on a tree… what might you add to the list? Beyond our miseries that haunt us at times, there are always reasons to “Start each day with a grateful heart.”

Praise God from whom all blessings flow…