Monday, November 23, 2020

Karen Pierce

GRATITUDE

Hello St. John’s! I miss you terribly! Living so far away during a pandemic doesn’t make traveling easy. I am looking forward to better times when I can feel safe to fly, and return to Portsmouth and my “home” church.

My days living under COVID conditions are brightened by the daily reflections and Sunday services (and, maybe Hallmark…) For these, I am grateful! How many of you are grateful for something, yet have never expressed it? Don’t lose the opportunity, go and share your story while you are here to enjoy doing so.

I am so grateful to my late husband, George, for taking me to St. John’s on that Sunday in the spring of 1998. We were both grieving a death in our family; our hearts were so broken. That big, beautiful old church and all who were in it, fed us. God fed us. Yes… forever grateful.

I was nervous to get “THE email” from Rob (I knew it would come sooner or later…) asking for a reflection, but “grateful” that the word for the week was “gratitude.” I have so much love and gratitude towards you all! The “8 o’clockers” who surround me when I’m “home,” (Penny, Gladys, Suzi, Andy and Lacy, Margaret and Jim, Bertha and Dick, Orland, Maggie and John, Jerry and many more); Rob, Anne, Dick and Nathan; and all my former co-workers at Common Table. I am so grateful for having you all in my life - - especially all the way out here in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma!

Have you ever made a list and titled it: “Things I am Grateful for Today?” Try it! Your list will be longer than you imagined, as was mine.

Practice gratitude - - it makes you feel good! Pay it forward… Thanksgiving is the perfect season for showing your thanks. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.”

While you’re at it, don’t forget to thank yourself. When moments of feeling grateful happen, pay attention! Embrace it. Enjoy it. Savor it!

My gratitude is great, and along with my faith, has sustained me through all the sad times and changes in my life. Make your list. Feel the love grow in your heart as you discover how much you have in your life for which you can express gratitude and Thanksgiving.

Choose to be Happy and Grateful