Celebrate the Small Things: Gratitude reigns!

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but gratitude is the panacea for my mental health. For me, at this time of year, it is hard not be overflowing with thankfulness. There is so much for which to be grateful.

It was my last day at work yesterday, and we finished with an early mark and a nice staff lunch. We played (is that the right verb?) bad Santa. It was my first time and it was a lot of fun. Then my boss dropped me in town where I did all of my Christmas shopping. I made a list and I checked it twice. (smiley face)

Moving to Darwin four and a half months ago was a risky move which has paid off in spades. The job is great, I love where I live and my new church home at C3 Darwin, and I am getting on top of my debt. I also sold 24 books this month which is a record.

Tomorrow, I'm flying home for Christmas and I can't wait to see my fiance and my family. I just received a phone call from my brother-in-law to inform me that my dad was taken to hospital by ambulance last night. His heart stopped en route, but the paramedics revived him and he is in a stable condition now. He was only released from hospital two days ago after spending a couple of weeks there with breathing difficulties. He has lung cancer and I know I am going to lose him soon. I'm grateful for the wonderful relationship I have with him, and even as he struggles to breathe, I am thankful to God for him, and for the breath in my lungs.

Merry Christmas everyone. Peace and blessings to you all in Jesus' name.

Celebrate the Small Things: Hugs and well wishes

Today was the final day of my practicum at a local Primary School. I made it! I did it! I finished.

It was a really difficult prac for many reasons. The hardest thing was behaviour management which in some classes, like the troublesome one to which I was assigned, takes the majority of the available time. 

On Tuesday, a student stabbed another student with a pencil in class while I was occupied trying to settle a dispute between another two students. It seems redundant to say that this was upsetting. The offending student was removed from class, and suspended. The victim was okay apart from a small puncture wound in his shoulder. My supervising teacher was off that day, and myself and the casual teacher on class were unable to control the children. Twenty eight eight and nine year olds totally got the better of us.

That incident concluded, but fresh in my mind together with thoughts about what might have been, (The stabbing could have have had much worse results,) I soldiered on for the rest of the week.

Today I finished up, and upon informing the class that I was leaving, I was immediately swamped with students who wanted to hug me. A few of them had drawn some pictures for me as well. One girl insisted that I had to come back and teach her next year in year 5, and then again the following year.

I am grateful today for the spontaneous affection shown me by children who had driven me half insane over the previous four weeks. I am thankful for the experience overall, and to the staff who supported and encouraged me.

Celebrate the small things: Rubbish dumps

I dropped my car off to a mechanic for what was supposed to be a routine inspection, but subsequently had to walk to the bus stop, ride home and wait for the dreaded afternoon call telling me how much it was going to cost me.

On the way to the bus stop, I met a young lady from Care. With some time to spare, I decided to hear her pitch. Care does impressive work for poor people around the world. I related to her how I was first confronted by extreme poverty. In the early 1990s I was in the Philippines with YWAM. We were taken to the Manilla city dump and shown a village of shanties inhabited by people who lived and worked on the rubbish tip. It smelled bad and it looked awful and it made me cry. I had never seen such desperate poverty, nor will I ever forget it.

So today, I am extremely grateful for the blessing of being born in Australia: a wealthy nation, and into a family who raised me with no lack of material needs or love and care. I am going to celebrate the fact that I am rich in every way that counts, and compared to most people in the world, I am also materially blessed. This is something I do not take for granted. 

A simple thing like being able to go to the tap in my kitchen and get a drink of fresh water is worth celebrating, is it not?

The Moment

Life is full of moments: both literally as a collection of sequential short periods of time, and metaphorically as an anthology of events which are themselves the product of either our choices or the choices of others, or both.

The moment you choose Monte Carlo biscuits instead of Tim Tams. The moment you grab your blue undies instead of your red ones. The moment when you realize a wild rodent has eaten some of your bread. The moment you sit down to write a blog with one idea, then quickly switch to another. The moment the ball hits the underside of the crossbar and goes into the goal rather than back into the field of play. The moment you walk outside and feel the bite of winter wrapped in the weakened warmth of the sun. The moment you pull your beanie on your head.

The moment your open your eyes in the morning.The moment you open your eyes in the middle of the night. The moment you close your eyes and you feel hot tears burn your cheek. The moment you put your glasses on. The moment you take them off.

The moment you say yes. The moment you say no. The moment you hesitate, and your pause is interpreted as an answer. The moment you finally make a decision about which you have agonized for too long. The moment you tell someone about that decision.

The moment you understand yourself. The moment you understand someone else. The moment you become suddenly and painfully aware of how little you know, of how wrong you have been, and how lost you are. The moment when you are found. The moment you experience grace. The moment you show it to another person.

Life is full of moments. They come and they go: never to return, never to be changed, never to be corrected. Make your choices and live with the consequences. Be grateful when you don't receive the pain you deserve, and humble when you do.

Photo source:
http://www.dezeen.com/2011/09/15/watch-sculptures-moments-in-time-by-dominic-wilcox/

Not as good as it gets

Jack Nicholson famously posed the slightly fatalistic question, "What if this is as good as it gets?" Similarly, Solomon suggested that a man should accept what befalls him, and make the most of it. Is this life as good as it gets? Many people think so. In fact, the very same don't believe there is anything else. This is it. This is life. Do your best. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

Life is characterised by problems, by trouble, and by suffering but I refuse to believe that this is as good as it gets. We do have to make the most of this life, but not because it is the only one we have, or because we cannot make it better.

A paradoxically simple attitudinal change is all that is required to improve our lot in life. Instead of lamenting the computer crash which robbed me of nearly four hours of my life, and put me way behind the work/study eight ball, I can be grateful that we have other computers in this house. I can be thankful that I have even one. That it can be repaired. That I can afford to have it fixed. That I can ask for an extension on my assignment, and it will be granted. That I know how to use a computer. That I know how to read and write. That I was able to go to school. That there is a heater blowing warm air on to my legs. That I have legs, and that they work well. I could go on but I think I've made my point.

Former Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser once said that life wasn't meant to be easy. It was actually, and it will be once more. When the cancer of sin is finally and eternally cured, we will be made whole, and life will be perfect. In the meantime, let's try large doses of gratitude to help ease the pain.

What are you thankful for?
 
photograph sources:
www.themodernnomad.com
www.gonemovies.com