How Many Cups Do I Need At One Time?

I am choosing gratitude.

There are circumstances this week that concern me.  If I let myself, I could spent my finite minutes stressing in worry and expending my resources trying to bend the outward world to fit my preferences.  At times, it is a lot of work to remember to shift my thoughts or attitudes to being grateful and rolling with the flow.  Whatever time I get afforded to me, will not return again. It's up to me to make it memorable and worthy.

This past weekend at my home town and church  blessings poured  in a turbulent flow of incoming and outgoing experiences. I was able to rest  often on the beach, with friends as well as moments of peaceful solitude, and to attend both Sunday church services. God is amazing all the time and this past weekend was very inspiring to be a part of the miraculous and Holy Ghost explosions.

I had let certain priorities slip. I had allowed my focus to drift from the main thing.   It's when I experienced peace and unity again, umerited favor and grace, that I realised THIS is the missing piece when I am apart for any length of time.  My heart filled with the love.  Already, I began to long to return..

God is everywhere. He is all things. My particular niche, though, is among people that love and protect me.  There is so much work to do for others, no matter where we go.  I can be of service locally in a focused way just as I can scatter abroad.

It's common for me to desire a home or roots.  

Today I choose to be grateful for the moments I have already had.  I choose to accept and be thankful for my week as it unfolds. This present moment is the only one I have any control over.  Even then, it is often just control of my attitude that I actually affect.

 I do hope to get back home this weekend.  But I chose to be thankful for a driver manager that is aggressive and has his own agenda.  There are times his work ethic assists my own drive to excel.  I must be thankful for his role at all times, not just when it is looking good in my own eyes.

My daughter sent me a photo of my grandson yesterday.  Two men were teasing him in a line at WalMart.  Jeremiah is one years old.  He can not yet discern what is real, what is important, what is lasting, what is necessary.  The photo shows him holding a blue and a green cup. His facial expression screams "MINE!".  He cannot drink of both cups at once. He did not look willing to surrender either to the neighbors.

Every now and then when I get cranky at the world around me, when it doesn't move in the direction or speed I deem is best, or when I rely on other people that see things altogether differently than I do?  I act like a child with two cups, both mine. I want it all.  I tell myself this is so I can give it away.  Right now, I wonder if it is because I am being selfish for the moment?

Today? I am choosing to be in a state of gratitude for the one who fills my cups to overflowing and abundance.

Thanking God,
Jan M. Olsen
~J~