Gratitude

If Fr. Darrell was here right now he would say “How’s Your Lent Going?”  And I would tell him today that my Lent is going great!

Okay, I haven’t been great at reducing carbs but I have quit playing computer games and other than today I have eliminated sweets from my diet.  But one of the best things I am doing is following a Lenten calendar where I do something different every day.  Those days could have me praying or fasting or serving.  I won’t leave for work without checking what it is I have to do on a particular day.  Today was a prayer day.  Today I was to pray in gratitude.

I’m pretty familiar with expressing my gratitude.  I keep a gratitude journal although I normally have to remind myself to write in it.  I tell people “thank you” although I’m not always good at doing that.  But I do think that I am always grateful for the things in my life.

Nothing makes that more clear than a day like today.  Today is my birthday.  I have always made a huge deal about my birthday.  I normally start celebrating my birthday a month in advance.  And I make sure everyone knows just how many more days until my birthday and then on that day I make sure everyone knows that it is my birthday.  I’ve always been like that.

But then Facebook enters the mix.  One of the nice things about Facebook is that it reminds you whose birthday is when.  It even gives you a list of whose birthday is on a particular day.  I have always been amazed at the number of birthday greetings are generated through Facebook but I will tell you that the people of Fancy Farm start early and send you greetings all day long.

I have had over 200 Happy Birthday greetings.  Now some of those were people that I have worked with.  Some were from people I went to school with.  But the bulk of the people offering their best wishes have been the people from my community.  And they have ranged from a simple “Happy Birthday” to serious conversations with just how old I am.  And, in gratitude, I have wanted to acknowledge each and every one of those wishes.  But when there are over 200 greetings it has gotten a little tiring.  So I decided I would write about it.

There are people in this community who know me because of Facebook or something at church or some other community organization.  A couple of weeks ago a new member came to one of our Rosaries and she introduced herself to me.  I told her I knew who she was.  We were friends on Facebook.  She said she knew that but didn’t know if I knew her.  I told her I may not recognize her but I knew her name and some of her posts.  I felt like we were old friends.  She commented on some of my pictures and some of the “quotable quotes” I put as my status updates.  It was as if we had known each other for years.

Having this type of welcome is something to be grateful for.  We are so lucky in our community to have the friendliness of this community.  And I have been welcomed like this since the day I moved to town.  Everyone may not know my name, they may not know anything about me.  But they recognize me and make me feel like I am one of the family.

I make a big deal about birthdays.  I get that from my mother.  She was born on Christmas Day and always valued birthdays.  So I have always made a big deal in my family about birthdays.  Well that has rubbed off.  My children can be just as obnoxious about my birthday as I am about theirs.  But I love it, as I know that they love it.  So today all 4 of my children sang “Happy Birthday” to me.  I have received phone calls and emails and texts and Facebook posts.  My youngest daughter wanted to know what I wanted to do and she made sure that it was done.  I am so grateful to have the type of family which recognizes what I value and they make sure that I feel valued.

I am so grateful for my faith.  I know we always give this lip service but it seems the older I get the more grateful that I am to have the faith in my religion that I am privileged to have.  As much as I hate Lent, I know that it is more valuable to my faith and my faith formation than any other time of the year.  Lent gives me the opportunity to take a look at my faith life and make changes or decide what more I can offer to my faith.  The closer it gets to Easter the harder Lent seems to be, but the better the rewards will be.  It doesn’t hurt that our faith community is so strong and we have wonderful leadership by Fr. Darrell and the entire parish staff.

This year I haven’t been real obnoxious about my birthday.  For instance, there was only one day that I reminded everybody I talked with that my birthday was 3 weeks away.  The reason I haven’t been so obnoxious is that I have been very busy at work. Even though I don’t have all kinds of things happening I do have a lot of activity going on and lots of people who know what kind of work that I do.  Plus, I’m having some success with my writing and photography.  I couldn’t ask for more than what I have.  Okay, I can but I know that it will all come together in the end.

So, Fr. Darrell, if you were to ask me how my Lent was going today.  I would tell you that I have learned that I have a lot to be thankful for and a whole lot of people to thank.  So I’d say today, my Lent is going pretty good.

Thanks for asking.