Jo Bower's Blog

All my ducks never stay in the row I keep putting them in.

As soon as I get everything settled, something else comes along.

It doesn’t matter if it is good or bad, it changes things.

And once again, I am rearranging my attitudes and life.

 

It occurred to me I’m looking in the wrong place when I look for things to be thankful for.

The things I’m thankful for today may not be, and often aren’t, here tomorrow.

“Now what?” I asked God.

“Am I to constantly asses my life in a quest to remain thankful?”

 

“Well,” God replied, “It seems to me there’s an easier way.

“You might try living in a spirit of thankfulness.

“I can help you with that.

“The ‘ducks’ never stay in a row, you know.”

 

I realized we spend a lot of time looking for the things we think we deserve and are thankful for.

We deserve to be happy and have a decent standard of living.

We deserve a good job matching our ability and education levels.

We develop a spirit of entitlement and expect someone will help us get what we deserve.

 

There’s nothing wrong with the effort of bettering ones’ self, or asking for help.

There’s nothing wrong with agencies assisting us when we need help.

Charity is one of the things God requires of us.

But charity is the spirit of giving, not the spirit of getting.

 

No, I’ve not wandered off the subject.

In our secular society, entitlement and empowerment becomes part of the morality.

And we live in the spirit of Yes! I Deserve This!

And again, that’s not all bad.

 

But there’s a subtle shift that can occur.

When what we deserve or empowerment doesn’t arrive in a timely manner,

The spirit in which we live is no longer thankfulness,

And when left to follow its course, becomes bitterness and dissatisfaction.

 

The thankful spirit rejoices in all things God supplies.

I become thankful for not just being alive, but for all of my life:

Where I live, what I have, my family, my spouse – or singleness, the money I do have,

The many – or few – friends I have, the help I receive, the agencies that help me, and that which I am given.

 

I still have ‘ducks’ to herd – but I don’t fall apart when things fall apart.

I do deserve certain things – we all do – but I don’t expect to be given them.

I am thankful I have the freedom to purse them

And my charity helps others attain a place where they can purse them.

 

I live my life in expectation of good things,

Thankful for the gifts from God.

But that’s different than living, in expectation of only good things,

And blaming God when  things are not as we think they should be.

 

When thankfulness is my spirit,

All things have a purpose.

All things are accepted –(long pause)  eventually.

I live in a new spirit of thankfulness that spills over into all I do, have, and am.