Living in Gratitude

January 1 my New Year's resolution was to live in gratitude. Like when people ask "How are you?" I try to respond: Living in Gratitude.

Clearly, these past 6 months have been meant for me to practice living in gratitude. In the past 6 months:

-1 car stopped running (engine died)

-Replaced it with a 20 year old $2500 vehicle, solid but gets 12 miles to the gallon

-Which meant our total gas vehicle bill doubled from $400 to $800+

-Decided to buy a moped to transport kids, which my son laid down day 1

-Same son was rear-ended in our best vehicle, which was out of commission 10 weeks

-Landlord decided to sell our house rather than do the exterior repairs the city wants, which could end up costing us $7000 in moving and increased rent

-We ended up buying another vehicle to replace the one in the accident (which I was hoping they were going to total out, but no.) So now we're in debt another $24,000.

But you know what? I Live in Gratitude. 

My son who was involved in two accidents in 3 weeks, walked away from both with barely a scratch. You can replace vehicles. Children not so much. The kid who hit my son? His car was totaled, but he walked away without a scratch too. The idiot pedestrian who ran in front of both of them...lived to be an idiot another day.

We reconnected with our come-to-our-house mechanic. Who was willing to take the price of the $2500 vehicle and take payments over 3 months while we used the car. So for the price of renting a car for 3 months, we own a truck with a tow hitch free and clear.

I'll end up selling the car which died once I get the title cleared (another story), for about $400. We were able to get the other car for 0 down and a very low payment.

My husband has gainful employment after nearly a year of unemployment. While it's 1/3 less than he was making, it's way more than he was making unemployed !! And it keeps a roof over our head.

The person my son ran into day 1 on the scooter was honest: the scratches she could have claimed were from the accident, previously existed, so no harm no foul.

I know where my kids are, what they're doing, and when they're coming home. I had a child who was kidnapped and gone for hours until she was found, so believe me when I say that I live in gratitude knowing the answers to who, what, where, when and how of my kids. And they're in good health.

My kids are headed in the right direction. With all the tribulations of the past 18 months, my kids have shown they can stand up and be counted.

I've been decluttering my house. Now I get to declutter it faster.

Financially, although we can't seem to catch a break to get ahead, so far, we're not getting any further behind, either.

I was privileged to bless someone else's life with 400 pounds of wheat food storage today due to us moving. A year's supply for one person is considered 250 pounds. So that's nearly a year's worth for two people. That's pretty cool.

I know The Secret. I know that the Law of Attraction is real, and that if you want less chaos in your life, you stop focusing on all the chaos IN your life. Single minded focus (the Law of Attraction) works the same for good or ill. We intuitively understand that if we want great grades at school, we need to focus our attention on that goal. Spiritually, the scriptures refer to this type of focus moving toward holiness when they state "an eye single to the glory of God." 

So rather than focus on the chaos in my life, I focus on gratitude for the things which are going well. Focus on the blessings rather than the burdens. Concentrate on the actions which I can take to better my life, than the actions which have been taken against my life (choosing to be a vic-tor rather than a vic-tim.)

And I acknowledge that though it may feel like persecutions rage, mobs combine, and armies are assembling against me, no unhallowed hand can stop me from progressing: because God truly holds me in the palm of His hand.