gratitude Archives - Page 2 of 2

Thankful

Post author:Gina B
Post published:November 27, 2014
Post category:gratitude

Thankful

As I stand in my kitchen this morning, preparing for Thanksgiving, I can’t help realizing that our time overseas has given me a new and deeper appreciation for certain things I didn’t have before.

I made a creme de menthe pie yesterday. Long story short, I had to make it twice.

All it required to remake it was a quick trip to the store for two inexpensive items. Overseas, I had to make the pie shell, make the marshmallow cream myself (with precious imported gelatin), make the whipping cream (purchased at great cost at the western grocery store 30 minutes away) and spend a few minutes convincing a person at Starbucks to give me three shots of mint flavoring.

I don’t take for granted that we can buy all the ingredients we need to make whatever people requested (in this house, in addition to the pie, it was green bean casserole and sweet potatoes with marshmallows). Not only are they available, but we can afford to buy them. In short, life is easier and cheaper here.

Not only that, we have a giant oven in which to cook food, and our microwave doubles as a conventional oven so I can cook them all at the same time. Our oven overseas was “big” because it wasn’t just a toaster oven. It wasn’t until our last three years there that we owned a refrigerator that was anything more than a glorified dorm fridge. That was ok though – chances were there was somewhere in your house cold enough to thaw a turkey. The problem was storing any leftovers.

And while we’re disappointed not to be spending the holidays with family, we have come to know the joy of celebrating with friends who feel like family. They, too, know what it’s like to not have this abundance. Today, we’ll be grateful together for all we have here.

As challenging as some of those experiences were overseas, I’m grateful for them too. They reminded us that the best gifts are not tangible. So maybe we didn’t have a turkey or the other traditional foods we knew. We have so much that cannot be taken from us – salvation, joy, eternal life, love. All these other gifts are above and beyond. My heart is thankful.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had these thoughts back on this side of the ocean. Here are a few other reflections:

Absence Makes the Heart Grateful

A Year of Thanks

A Year of Disney

Post author:Gina B
Post published:August 31, 2014
Post category:gratitude parenting

A Year of Disney

Yesterday, our Disney annual passes ran out. No more Disney for us.

The first time we went, last September, I took the kids to Magic Kingdom, just the three of us. I was the “best mom ever” for taking them. It looked like we were going to have a year long vacation full of happy, loving, family times.

But did you know that kids can get to a point where they don’t want to go to Disney anymore? It’s true. They can come to the place where the suggestion, “Let’s go tomorrow” is met with, “Again?!?” Yep. Possible.

But then the last two weeks, as we squeaked in a few more days, and did the “we haven’t done . . .” moments, suddenly we heard, “We should have gone on that ride . . . We should have done . . .” I tried to remind them of the times we had to drag them. They didn’t really remember. It almost made us want to renew our passes. Almost.

We learned a few things. Always use fast passes. Tomorrowland’s really empty right away in the morning. Bring your own food. Mission: Space, the Tower of Terror, and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party are not for those with weak stomachs. Sit in the back on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. And most importantly, by late afternoon, the Magic Kingdom is no longer the happiest place on earth, judging by any family who has brought a child under 5.

But happy, loving, family times? They happened. We laughed. We schemed how to make the most of our time. We park hopped. We rode rides, got off and got right back on again. We got caught in the rain and thought it was awesome. And last night as Megan skipped down the fastpass lane at Soarin’ with her beautiful red hair flying I thought, “I would do this all again.”

I’m so thankful for our year of Disney.

A Year of Thanks

Post author:Gina B
Post published:November 24, 2013
Post category:gratitude transition

This Friday will mark one year of us being in Florida. One year since that caravan of 2 mini-vans, 9 people, three dogs and a trailer made their way cross-country to this far corner of Orlando. It’s been a good year. So good in fact that I thought I would take this opportunity to give thanks for the many blessings we’ve had, so here goes:

my Friday group – ladies, thank you for being one of the first places here where I could be myself and feel truly loved

our kids’ school – honestly, I can’t imagine a better situation

MK2MK – this is the group where Ethan has found those kids who say, “You too? I thought it was just me” and it has breathed life into him

Old friends – some of our favorite people already lived here in Orlando and I don’t know what I would have done without them (Katie and Jenny – I’m looking at you!)

Our neighborhood – who knew we could find a place here that makes us feel like we continually live at a cabin in northern Minnesota?

soccer – Megan’s passion finally realized, and along with it fun new relationships for all of us

family connections – I am still not completely used to the idea that I can simply pick up the phone and call family members without considering the time zone, but when I do remember I love that it’s true. Even better, visits are much easier too!

libraries – seriously, is there anything greater for a book lover than libraries that deliver to your home?

the work we do – it is humbling to be used by God to do what we love in a way that blesses others

sunsets and sunrises – I gotta say I think Orlando has the corner on these. Un. Real.

our continued Asian connections – people we work with who also lived there, friends visiting from across the ocean, our kids taking up Chinese again

the struggles – the times of disappointment, frustration, anxiety, and grief have brought us together as a family and pushed us closer to the One who loves us

God – I always want to be able to say, year after year, “I know Him better now. I am closer to Him. I trust Him more.” This is definitely true for me in 2013.

Yeah, it’s been a good year.

A Great Day

Post author:Gina B
Post published:September 11, 2013
Post category:gratitude parenting

Can I just declare that today was nutty? Not bad nutty. Just non-stop nutty.

The kids had a homeschool day today (I’m sure many of you are thoroughly confused by our kids’ schooling. Do they go to school? Are they homeschooled? Yes is the answer). Wednesdays are usually long because they had no extra time like the weekend when they could do some of their work. They were both cracking the books by 8 am. I generally don’t sit down on days like today until they’re done. I’m helping one or the other, or trying to catch up on housework or emails or other random ideas that pop into my head. I confess I can be fairly distracted. At one point Megan was literally sitting next to me on the floor and she sent me an email that said, “Can you get my history book?” Apparently she had asked me verbally and I had not responded.

I didn’t realize until halfway through the day that the kids had started working on projects that are actually not due until next week. Their teachers had told them to work on these projects today, but being the good closure lovers that they are, they decided to complete the projects. This sounds fantastic in theory, but in practice it meant that by 4 pm Megan hadn’t started math or written the next paragraph in her essay. They’re normally done by about 3 pm.

On top of that, they were both running into snags – questions they couldn’t answer (and quite frankly, neither could I), ideas that needed my feedback, internet help – and no amount of me saying, “Maybe you could just put this away since you don’t actually need to do it for tomorrow” would deter them. You could call it awesome perseverance. I might call it tiring.

While we wrapped those up, Ethan decided he wanted to cook enchiladas for dinner. Brilliant! He even told me, “Just give me the recipe. I don’t want any help.” So off he went, until I realized we had no tortillas for these proposed enchiladas. I decided there was time to “run” to the store – remember, we essentially live at the cabin, so think “going into town.”

On the way, Ethan called and asked a question, and in the process I remembered that our chicken stock was expired, and there wasn’t enough sour cream. Good thing I caught that! I was in and out in 5 minutes and back home in 15 more. That’s when I realized I hadn’t bought any tortillas. We made three enchiladas using thin whole wheat flax seed flat bread slices.

After a TV dinner break – curse my DVR for not recognizing that President Obama broke into the broadcast of the So You Think You Can Dance finale thereby causing me to miss the dramatic conclusion! – we cleaned the kitchen (which at this point, with Erik gone, felt like a major victory), I biked with the dog down the street and back, made lunches for tomorrow, and herded the cats to bed.

But in the midst of all that, Ethan said, “Wow – I’m beginning to understand how hard you work” and “you’re such a great mom” and “thanks for all your help today” and Megan closed the night with, “I love you SOOO much!”

It was a great day.

40 by 40

Post author:Gina B
Post published:August 1, 2013
Post category:gratitude

A friend of mine recently posted about her list of 40 things to do before the age of 40. At first I thought, “Hey, that’s a great idea!” and then I thought, “I have seven hours.” Oh well.

Instead, I thought I’d make a list of things I’m glad I did before the age of 40. Maybe things I’m glad I’ve learned. I’m not sure. Suddenly 40 seems like a lot and until I actually make this list I’m not sure what it will contain. So here goes:

40 Things I’m Glad I’ve Done/Learned:

1. I’ve followed God

2. Learned that God loves me. A lot.

3. Married a great man

4. Became a mom

5. Learned that you can’t be a perfect mom, but you can be a great one with God’s help.

6. Lived in other countries

7. Learned that God is bigger and stronger and wiser and basically more of everything than we believe He is. And the more you trust that, the better off you are

8. Climbed the Great Wall (and therefore am now a true Han Chinese)

9. Wrote a book (wait, what? Yes, but it’s for a limited audience)

10. Ran two half-marathons

11. Learned that when taking up running you should have good shoes and take extra iron or you will hurt your feet and get anemic

12. Preached in a church in Trinidad (“preach it sista!”)

13. Learned another language

14. Used my degree – take that all you humanities haters.

15. Learned how to take good photos

16. Homeschooled my kids

17. Rode a unicycle

18. Played several musical instruments with varying degrees of competency

19. Learned that as much as I don’t like trials, I need them to be who God wants me to be (and who I want to be)

20. Had cheap massages on the beach in Thailand, which is the best way to get a massage in the world

21. Stayed healthy

22. Learned that being healthy is as much about giving yourself grace as it is about eating well and exercising

23. Had hard conversations where I had to be vulnerable and saw how it deepened my relationships

24. Wrote a blog

25. Consistently sought opportunities to share with others what God is doing in my life (i.e. through this blog)

26. Tried to be as generous as possible with my resources

27. Read extensively

28. Made friendships a priority

29. Learned to apologize often

30. Went to LEAF (leadership development time) and purposed to apply what I learned there

31. Became a LEAF coach

32. Prayed. A lot.

33. Learned that my value comes solely from my position as a child of God

34. Kept my sense of humor

35. Made keeping tabs on my own heart a value

36. Learned that to keep an open, soft heart requires a willingness to bear pain

37. Learned that my depravity is deeper than I could have imagined, but His redemption is far deeper

38. Learned that our parents are a lot smarter than we give them credit for (and so are kids)

39. Made mistakes

40. Learned that I still have a lot more to learn