My Day 13 of 500 Words: More from “Intentional Living”: Who are we grateful for and why? Write it down!

The John Maxwell Co. – Intentional Living

After my husband read aloud these 3 questions yesterday from John Maxwell’s book, “Intentional Living”:

What do you cry about?

What do you sing about?

What do you dream about?

I decided to comb through the book tonight for the inspiration for my next 500 words.  It did not take me long to find it!

At the end of each chapter, there are Intentional Application Questions. Here is the questions I am pondering tonight:

Who makes your list?

We are to consider who has helped us in our lives.  Next, we are to make a gratitude list, including at least 10 people (although I am only doing 3 in this post), how they have helped us and why it has been important to us.

So here I go.  

I hope this inspires you to do the same.

1-My dad: He helped me by modeling hard work, honesty and unconditional love.  My dad died when I was 21. At his funeral, several people got up to speak and they told stories we had never heard before.  Undoubtedly, my dad would visit the hospital on his lunch breaks and offer prayer and the gift of presence to those suffering from heart related issues.  He had survived 2 heart attacks and this was his way of paying forward the comfort The Lord had given him.  Needless to say, these secret, selfless acts changed me forever. It made me want to have a secret, selfless life that was adding value to the world around me.

What adventures do we take with the Lord that no one else really knows about?

 If we can’t think of any, maybe we should start creating some now.  

How can we use our unique,personal stories to make the lives of others better? 

 2-Aunt Leta: Aunt Leta helped by modeling the patience of Job, a servant heart like Jesus, and a praying posture, living life on her knees.  Aunt Leta taught me how to slow down, listen and never take relationships for granted. She taught me what forgiveness looks like, the kind where you really let go of a hurt and love the one who hurt you, as if it never happened.   She taught me that leadership is birthed in humble
acts of service, such as making beds, doing laundry, cooking meals, driving car pools, washing a little girls hair, kneeling in prayer every night before bed, answering late night phone calls from a sobbing teenager and holding the hand of the dying.

3-My Husband: Jay helps me by being the wind beneath my wings. When I catch a glimpse of myself through his eyes, I love what I see.  He has always seen me through he lens of Christ, as if my God-given potential is a present reality.  He helps me dream and believes anything is possible. He helps me by loving Jesus out loud in our family. He leads me and protects me and makes me better.  He never holds a grudge.  He takes out the trash and makes me coffee and makes me laugh. He dries my tears and grills a mean burger.  He takes me out to dinner and loves to snack with me, barefoot in the kitchen.  He dates me everyday and as far I am concerned, we were born married.  He changed diapers, signed permission slips, taught our kids to drive,  cleaned up booboos and he sees my C-section scars as beauty marks.

Ok, you probably get the point.

What I just shared is the tip of the iceberg on my gratitude list.
I hope you are inspired to start your gratitude list sooner than later.

What a sweet way to go to sleep tonight!

600 words and counting…