Feeling that gratitude flooded my day with good things.
Kambrie was an angel. Seriously a different person! She WANTED and ASKED to do chores, and not just her own, but Tanner's TOO. What the what?
Seriously, if you understood, this was a HUGE deal. She HATES chores and whines and moans EVERY day about doing chores. It was a miraculous miracle to see this change of heart, I can't even explain.
She was so in love with Tanner that day too, it was so cute. She just wanted to do everything for Tanner and "let him just play" and enjoy the day with no expectations.
Then I found this experience I had typed up awhile ago that had made me think of gratitude and relate it:
I've been leaving the car seat in the car and just taking Bree out of it, instead of lugging her inside with it because it's big and heavy!!! So I was getting the girls ready for the day to head out the door to take Kambrie to preschool. Kam was in the car, and I was walking through the house getting what I needed to go. I was just about ready to take Bree to the car but I wanted to get a head band for her so I opened up her bedroom door, walked into her room over to the dresser, found her headband and walked out and into the garage. I opened the car door to place her in her car seat and it wasn't there!
I remembered I had left it in her room, so I went back in and there it was!! Right in front of me on the floor. I had actually STEPPED OVER IT to get her headband just minutes before but somehow didn't even see it. WoW!
I reflected on a quote I had used from the class I gave:
"The more often we see things around us, the more they become invisible to us. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less. We don’t appreciate them…even the people we love.
Those who live in Thanksgiving daily though, have a way of opening their eyes. They see the wonders and beauties of the earth as if they are seeing them for the first time."
I hated that that was what happened to me! The car seat was just plain invisible. It made me think how many other things are invisible to me...blessings I'm not recognizing."
Gratitude is a unique commandment. We are commanded to "be grateful in all things!" There is a reason. Gratitude fills our soul, and in return we have peace and happiness. The funny thing is how it compounds into even better things and wonderful experiences.
I don't think I ever blogged about this, but always meant to. It's probably been 1 1/2 years now...but I had the chance to teach a class at a stake RS activity on gratitude. I was so nervous! I've never done anything like that before. Hundreds of women staring at me. That's a lot of pressure ;)
I prayed, read, emmersed myself in gratitude for over a month before my class in preparation. And can I tell you, it was life changing. Honestly.
As I focused on gratitude and chose to have that attitude every day, blessings were poured out upon me and I was just plain HAPPY. It's like a crazy magic pill!
I had read a book about gratitude and it said that the world would pay you back, in essence. Some of it got to be a little "much" I thought, but there was one day that it proved to be true.
I had $100 for my budget on this class if I wanted a hand out or anything. I decided to make little gratitude journals and after buying all the notebooks and coming up with a design to have vinyl stickers printed for the front, I was over my budget by $40. I contemplated not doing it, or thinking about other idea's that would be good. But I REALLY wanted to do these books so I decided I'd just pay that difference out of my own pocket.
Well, as I was sitting at my kitchen counter reviewing my talk, the lady from the vinyl place called and she proceeded to tell me that she was going to give me a discount because of my bulk order and because I was a good customer (I ordered a lot from her for our mom's group too). When she told me the percentage off, I quickly did the math and then added that new total with the total from the notebooks and guess what it came to. $99.
I couldn't believe it. It was EXACTLY what I needed and now I didn't have to use any of my own personal money towards the gifts I wanted to give each woman there. I almost cried it was so amazing!!
It was such a great witness to me that Heavenly Father does keep his promises. If we are grateful in all things, we will be blessed!
THEN, when I went to pick up the sheets of vinyl, they had a whole extra sheet (40 prints on it) of the same cover but the coloring was a little lighter than they personally liked so they reran it for me and had this extra sheet they gave me for FREE that I could use for whatever!! And the coloring looked just fine to me!!! I couldn't believe it again! What an awesome day!!!!
But it still wasn't over! I stopped at a local cupcake shop on my way home and ran in to buy myself my favorite indulgence. As I was paying for the cupcake the owner grabbed a cookie out of the basket and told me to try this and see if I liked it as well. FOR FREE!!
I about fell over. I couldn't believe my day. Things like this NEVER happen and to have them all happen the same day, as I was so intently pondering my talk and the points I needed to cover as I'd been studying gratitude, was just awesome!!! But it wasn't just that day and the magnitude of blessings that warmed my heart, it was every day, breathing and living in gratitude that I continued to see the hand of God manifest himself and blessings arise.
It was beautiful. So much more abundance, and not just monetary things. But abundance in the spirit and in love. And all because I was expressing gratitude. Something so easy. So rewarding in every aspect.
Since that time, I haven't FOCUSED on gratitude DAILY like I did then. I want to claim that attitude and feel that joy again. I can't even explain how amazing it was. Like I said, so simple, so why don't we do it?
I know it is a life changing principle. Wake up every morning, breathe a sigh of breath that you have a new day and start counting your blessings. Before you lay your head to sleep reflect on the goodness instead of focusing on anything that went wrong, and you'll soon realize it was a good day and there is always something to be grateful for!
Each day in and of itself is a blessing!
Sept 2012
These are the beautiful flowers my parents sent me the day before my big class. It was so sweet and thoughtful and brightened my day.
Here are the books I prepared for everyone in the class. It was a notebook small enough they could stick in their purse or carry around during the day to have something to write their blessings in as they would arise or recognize!
getting nervous!!!
My set up in the classroom.
The amazing Jenny Phillips (middle) was a keynote speaker at our conference. She did the main talk and then after she came to MY class! Talk about more pressure!! It was so great to meet her because I LOVE her music and her talks. She has definitely left an impression in my life and been an inspiration!
This is what I had written in an email to my family after the class:
Thanks again for all the calls, emails, flowers...and showing your support to me. You guys rock! It meant a lot to me. My ward members were so sweet as well, to come to my class and support me when they could have chosen the other class. It feels really good to be loved like that! I was really touched.
The class went really well. I taught it twice, so the first class was nerve wracking. I had to self talk myself down and not get anxious and nervous. It went well and people were really receptive! I had interaction and it was fun! The time just went by so fast!! I had TONS of info to share but only gave about half of it. The second class had a totally different vibe than the other. It was weird. Time didn't go by as fast and I felt more comfortable and in the groove of things after the inital nerves wore off. At the end of both classes several people came up and gave me hugs, thanking me for the class, saying I did good and they were so glad they came :) In the second class a girl came up and said she almost didn't come today, then she started getting a little emotional and said "I don't ever cry" and with the tears starting to stream down her face she thanked me for the class and knows she was meant to be there and that was exactly what she needed to hear!!
It made me feel so good that I could help be a messenger for the Lord and hopefully be an answer to her prayer and anyone else that needed it.
Overall I am especially grateful that I got to teach because like Kim said when she was immersed in gratitude preparing for her class, she was so happy and could see the changes in her life and I feel the same way! When you focus on gratitude and what you have instead of what you lack, it does turn what you have into enough! I have felt much more peace and happiness as this has been the focus in my life. I've had countless experiences through planning this that have been witness to receiving even more blessings as we recognize the one's we already have!
