A Different Gratitude List

Hey ya'll,I hope your weekend was a good one, full of what brings you peace and rest and equips your to start your week refreshed and rejuvinated.Before I get to my share for the week, I want to say thank you for being here and taking the time to read, comment and share. It always warms my heart, and makes me the happiest. Honestly. There are changes coming to the site, some fresh updates, fresh looks and I hope great content you'll find useful. With that in mind, if you want to continue having me pop into your email, I'd appreciate if you'd take just a second and hit the button below and subscribe. And, of course, if you don't want to be on my email list going forward, I completely understand. But I hope you'll still visit when you have the time!

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Now on to what I have been thinking about this week. I’ve been reading the book Intentional Living: Choosing a Life that Matters by John C. Maxwell and one of the exercises he shared in the book sparked my interest – especially as we enter a season of Thanksgiving. I’m hoping it might be a little interesting to you also.It is well known that keeping a gratitude list or at least acknowledging on a regular basis what we are grateful for helps our mindset. It is one of those things that seems like such a small thing, but can have such enormous benefits on our thoughts, developing a positive attitude and simply keeping us grounded, that I thinks it a good reminder.John Maxwell shared in the book a way to take that gratitude list a little bit further. He took the time to think back on his life and designate all the different people in his life that he was thankful for and what it was that each did that inspired him.I’ll say, looking at this list, it was pretty impressive. I definitely have nothing on Mr. Maxwell, but loved the idea and thought it would be fun to do a little reflection and come up with my own list.Unless you really know me or grew up with me, my list won’t mean a hill of beans to you. I basically gave myself about 10 minutes to look back over some of the phases of my life, what was going on and who happened to be there giving me a little push, clearing the path or just making me feel loved.Here is a portion of my Different Gratitude List:

Bigmama (my grandmother) for her work ethic, love of church and picking me up for Sunday School every week.
My Middle School Librarian (I’m embarrassed to say I can’t actually remember who it was) but she helped foster my love of reading and each week challenged me with new topics, books and subjects.
Carolyn Trowell (If you know, you know!) She gave me, and so many growing girls who danced, twirled and marched for her, discipline and instilled in us how to act and sit up straight like a lady.
Donna Daniel for seeing me and encouraging me into different roles in Y-Club in the local, district and state level. I am still thankful for all the experiences, growth and friends that gave me.
Darrel May for challenging me in English class and in writing of endless essays – and for letting us act on stage (even though we weren't in the Drama Club) when we would never have done that.
Marlene, my aunt who showed me some of the girly things, spoiled me and always did my hair for school pics, pageants and proms.
Judge Bryant Culpepper for giving me my first clerkship job, showing me so many different areas of law, opening the doors for other opportunities and not making me feel like an idiot when I was absolutely clueless.
Martha Kimbel for inspiring me with her love of fitness, teaching and sharing love and life in her classes and entrusting me to gather and lead my own.
Mike for showing me the gift of making people feel loved.

I could go on, as there are many more. I continue to have old and new friends, mere acquaintances and even strangers take space in my life that make me grateful. Over the past few years this is especially true as I was in a season of having to really learn how to lean on others. . My list goes on and on. I could probably write a book filled with the many, many names and examples of how and why I am grateful for so many people.What about you? As you look back over different seasons of your life, who helped you, pushed you, inspired you?