our atmosphere has been slow to welcome the warm spring and hot summer days this year, but i’m so thankful we’re on the beginning side of the warm-day-season. one thing that helped me make it through this harsh winter was the act of gratitude. i’m so thankful (see! gratitude!) that i didn’t tailspin into a depressive state with each new snow storm. i think it was the act of being thankful, so thankful, for friends, family, being with my boys, and my amazing husband that kept me “above ground.”

one of my new years resolutions was to pay better attention. i have found that the simple (yet difficult) act of paying attention will naturally bring a thank-you to your lips. noticing the breath of a sleeping boy (“thank you, Lord, for his health!”), really listening to the chatter of an almost five-year-old (“thank you, Lord, that he can speak!”) and even seeing the beauty of the freshly fallen snow (“thank you, Lord, for the beauty of snowflakes-seen-up-close.”)

i was saved this winter, by giving thanks.

and i’m not referring to salvation. although it’s very easy to see the parallel of being saved by being thankful. accepting the grace of God is as difficult for me as being thankful in the bitter grey that i see in winter.

starting in november, when i could feel the cold coming in my bones, i began to give thanks. it was easy at the beginning, and then when winter hit, it became almost impossible. until a great conversation with a friend, and a recommendation of a book got me through the coldest of months.

so give thanks with me. shout your gratitude from the mountaintops, and let that which keeps you down not take charge over you.