Today I am grateful

I know I haven’t posted yet in 2012.  The past ten days, life has been filled with getting back into the routine.  Oh, how grateful I am for the routine.  Not that two weeks off wasn’t glorious and fun…it allowed us to be somewhat spontaneous, taking day trips on a moment’s notice, and the kids spent lots of time outside with my WH – which was wonderful.  But by the third weekend, it was time.  Time for everything to get back to normal.

Now that things are rolling along again, when I stopped to think about what I would write about on my blog, the first thing that came to mind was gratitude.

We had a MOPS meeting this morning and one of the things I said there was that we all come to MOPS with our own bag of problems.  Whether it’s our kids, our home life, our in-laws…everyone has something they’re dealing with when they walk in.  And the great thing about MOPS is that while you can throw your bag in the middle of the room and share it with everyone else, by the end of the meeting, you’re usually happy to pick up your same bag and take it home because once you hear everyone else’s problems, yours don’t seem quite so bad.  Something along the lines of “no, really, I got this – I’ll just hang on to these, thank you” goes through your mind.  Today I am grateful for my problems, especially when I see and hear what other moms are going through.  And I’m grateful that my past experiences may help console those currently going through them -  to let them know that yes, I know it feels like it won’t ever get better or you’ll never get past this, but in the end (and sometimes in the middle) it does all work out.

Our Mentor Mom gave a wonderful devotion today about contentment and being content even in the midst of difficult circumstances.  I looked around the room and could see the nodding heads and eyes welling up with tears as she reminded us of the words of Joseph to his brothers (who had gravely mistreated him) in Genesis 50:20: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”  God can turn anything into good.  Anything.  He can redeem any bad thing.

I am also grateful for answered prayers, for people God brings into your life at just the right moment and for the way in which God uses people to accomplish His will.  I read something once that said God will use anyone to accomplish His purpose.  He will speak to anyone whom He can use.  And if He speaks to you and you do not answer, He’s not going to wait on you.  He’ll find someone else to do His will.  It’s just that simple.

So in this season of new beginnings and fresh starts, I am grateful that every single day brings with it a new morning, and each day, I get the opportunity to start over and try to be a better mom, wife, and friend.  I am grateful that the God of second chances is always eager to hear from me, no matter the time of day or my mood or circumstances.  And I can only hope and pray that when He does speak, I will answer and follow and maybe even be one of the ones He uses.