An Attitude of Gratitude

Sometimes life gets hectic and it gets crazy and we forget to tell the ones we love & cherish that we value them and that they are important. Oh how lucky are we to have a whole day dedicated to being gracious for the big things, the small things, the insignificant things, the influencers, the mentors! Today, on Thanksgiving, we get to take this whole day to say an extra thanks. How special is that???!

Take today to say thank you to every single person who has impacted you, who has touched your heart and made you smile. 

Let your graciousness radiate through your kind words and warm smiles. 

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Regardless of the petty arguments and bickering that always seems to somehow arise, the day itself holds something undeniably special in my heart. 

We have a nationally recognized holiday that allows us to spend a whole day being thankful. When everything in your life seems to be falling down and you find yourself festering on the negatives, you are brought back to reality and forced to think about the things that you have to be thankful for. 

I will be the first to tell you that it is so easy to find something to gripe about. My dad is sick, both physically and mentally, and this is our first holiday with our parent's officially divorced. Things at home are rough and that's something that I used to always find myself getting down about. Yet, the past couple of weeks, an idea that was first presented at Bible study, has become the motto of my life.  

Live life with an attitude of gratitude. 

On the surface, it sounds so easy. I am grateful for food to eat, a place to live and a car to drive. But that wasn't gratitude- that was monotony. It is so easy to be happy and thankful for the easy things in life. It is extremely difficult and challenging to find joy and graciousness for the hard things in life. However, it is when you switch your life to a thought process of living with an attitude of gratitude and truly embodying that motto that you will find true and unrelenting joy. 

The thing is, you can't do it alone. 

You must rely on God and ask him to help you find the true purpose behind every valley that is in your life. He isn't going to tell you why you are going through each struggle, but He is going to show you that there is a lesson to be learned out of each of them. Rely on God and you will begin to find true joy in your life. There is a couple of verses that I always saturate myself with when I am asking God to open my eyes and I genuinely hope that you will begin to take them to heart. 

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Psalm 51:17 

For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
Psalm 48:14 

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.
James 4:10 

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
1 Peter 2:1 

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-12

Fall onto God and he will fulfill you. Try to live a life that is always forgiving and ever-cherishing. Remember that you can always clean up a mess but you can't clean up bad memories. Try to create good memories by taking each moment graciously. Laugh a little bit more, especially when you feel like crying. Find the good in everything. Live in today. Don't ever wish for a different tomorrow because it is today and today is okay. Be thankful for what you have today. Not what you want tomorrow. But in the end, pray to God. You will find the truest joy when you begin to rely on him. 

I urge you, please, live your life with an attitude of gratitude. 

Be Passionate. Be Humble. Be Knowledgeable.

Today I had the honor of attending the Inaugural Kentucky Hunger Dialogue. While I clearly learned a lot about the fight to end hunger on a global, national, and local level, I learned a whole lot more about what it means to be an influential person. 

The keynote speaker of the event was Colmon Elridge. He planted a seed in me that validated the goals that I have created for myself. I have never been so inspired yet cried so much within a 15 minute period. 

Colmon is a very respectable and inspiring man. While he spoke greatly about his personal story, he was very real with crowd. I am finding it very difficult to put into exact words the impact that Colmon had on me today. He got real. He spoke truthfully. And I related- not to every aspect of his story, but specific moments in his life brought up distinct memories of moments in mine. Moments in my life that I had yet to figure out how I could use to help others. But now I see it and I finally understand. 

My desire to help youth in the middle school age range stems from my past. It comes from a sixth grader, with a Staples box and bowl of crab and shrimp alfredo. While the explicit details of them is not important, it is important to focus on the age. In sixth grade, my life was changing along with the world around me. The moment when I was most vulnerable, I sought out a mentor, a teacher, a friend that I could look up to. I can't say that I found one. 

I say all this because it comes back to one main point that I pulled out from Colmon's speech: in whatever you are passionate about, do it humbly and without seeking honor. Do it all for a reason and know why. 

Be passionate: find something you care about and care about it whole-heartedly. I care about youth. I care about middle schoolers. I spend my time serving them especially through my time as their color guard instructor. I plan to spend my life serving them. 

The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.  

Proverbs 20:5

Be humble and don't seek honor: do what you do because you are passionate. Don't let your drive be to win the vote of others or to be honored with the highest award. Be humble in all that you do. 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.   

Phillipians 2:3-4 

Be knowledgeable: do it all for a reason and know why. I want to help youth because I want to be that mentor, that role model, that friend that I once sought out. I want to help those who don't have someone to be there encouraging them. My goal is to impact the lives of youth. 

Let all that you do be done in love.  

1 Corinthians 16:14

Colmon said what I have always believed: change the world for somebody. You do not have to make a large, lasting impact that the whole world recognizes. Making life better for one person is a success. 

In whatever you, do it because you care. 

Be passionate. Be humble. Be knowledgeable. 


Thank you, Colmon. You are an inspiration to far more than you will ever realize. Thank you for reigniting my fire and helping to validate my passions. Thank you for using your bad for good. Your story will forever change the lives of others. Thank you.