Attitude of Gratitude

I stood in my prayer alcove this morning and admired the blue sky and the sunshine, the green fields and the flowering bushes. Yes, the temps in our Scottish summer have done their usual nosedive and I am attired in three tops of varying thicknesses, but I am still awed by the beauty of a Scottish summer.

Everything is rarely rosy in our lives. There are always niggles that, if allowed to, can undermine our gratitude and turn a smile upside down. 

I’ve just received a lovely ‘thank-you’ note from someone very dear to me, whose memory is beginning to slip a bit. The gifts we’d given for her special birthday were probably muddled in her mind with a collection of other gifts she’d received, but her attitude was one of gratitude for the nearly daily skype calls I make. She may not remember the detail, but she remembers the bigger picture and her heart is grateful.

How often I neglect, or forget, or maybe not even notice the many gracious gifts God lavishes on me every day... but my heart is full of gratitude to him for the incredible gifts of life, love and sacrifice which I hope I never forget. 

The weather of my life may not always be summery, but I have a life, a saved life, which I have done nothing to deserve. It is all grace. And I am full of gratitude.

I guess we’re back to yesterday’s rainbow. Trace the rainbow through the rain. It’s always there, even if you can’t see it.

Nosedive

Temp at 8 am was 0C! (32F) 

Oh no. Harbinger of things to come. It is beautiful, but the apparent price to pay for a clear blue sky in this northern country, in October, is plunging temps. Maybe there will be a frost tomorrow.

So I’m nearly back to my winter layering. Four today. Five is the usual during winter. Gloves. Scarf.  It’s the tedious part of life in a cold climate – if you just dash outside without a coat, it doesn’t feel good...

Well. At least we don’t have spiders the size of your hand, likeRobbie was describing to me on Sunday. He’s a bit freaked out that it was in the kitchen of his place in northern California. Never mind the bears, mountain lions, and snakes...

At least the traffic is predictable. Hair appointment this morning, and I know it will take me 30 minutes max to reach the hairdressers in Aberdeen. Not like timing appointments in LA, where a jack-knifed truck could snarl the traffic for hours, as Mhairi knows. 

At least there’s plenty of fresh water coming out of the tap. Not like places in India, where women cart water for miles unless a borehole is sunk in the village. 

So I won't let my mood nosedive with the temps. I’ll put on that extra layer, and be thankful.