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Archive - gratitude RSS Feed

Technology: 1993 vs 2013 – Amazing!

May 9, 2013 in gratitude, technology, thankfulness with 4 Comments

via Twisted Sifter

via Twisted Sifter

How easily we forget how amazingly easy our technology has made our lives.

Having been there and done that in the 1993 version and traveled consistently with 6 of the 8 items, let me just say something.

Sometimes we forget to be thankful for what we have.

We get frustrated with sometimes not being able to connect immediately to the internet from our mobile phone. We grumble when we are out in the middle of nowhere in our car and can’t get signal to text someone. We get upset when we have been trying to call someone’s mobile and they won’t pick up, even though they are in a meeting or church or having family time.

We forget that the only form of instant personal communication used to be face to face or a phone call.

When you think about it, 1993 doesn’t even remotely resemble 2013 – except for this… people are still people and we still forget how amazing it is to live in the day in which we live.

I’m renewing my commitment to living a thankful and grateful life. I’ve got it good and I know it.

Has this picture/post caused you to re-think something? What is it?

Happy Anniversary to US!

December 18, 2012 in family, gratitude, love with 4 Comments

DebbieChildhood

Thirty years ago today, Debbie and I were married. (yes, that’s her in the pic above – couldn’t resist)

Thirty years… wow, where did the time go?

My words are not even remotely adequate to express my love and gratitude for a much better life than I could have ever imagined back in those days. I give the glory to God and the credit to Debbie. She is a Proverbs 31 woman: smart, funny, adventurous, full of life, and the most loving, caring and nurturing person I have ever known.

Debbie is simply amazing. I jokingly and lovingly call her “Mary Poppins.” For a myriad of reasons. She does difficult things with grace and ease, like… you know, Mary Poppins.

She is the one for me. Hands down. I love her every December 18th. And every Tuesday. And every other day that ends in “day.”

Tonight we are celebrating with a quiet dinner, and again with our kids later this week. Celebrating the first thirty years of our life together. Celebrating enduring love. Celebrating each other.

I love you, Debbie Allen. Every December 18th.

And every Tuesday.

And every other day.

Should our best work be given away?

September 24, 2012 in artistry, gift, gratitude with 1 Comment

“Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn’t matter. The intent does. Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.” ~ Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

If art is a gift, should it be given away instead of sold? Some say “yes” and choose to simply to make the world a better place by making a unique and significant contribution to it. Some people give their lives to make the lives of others better. That, to me, is the greatest and highest form of art in existence.

Two such men lived in the 1920s when Type 1 Diabetes had yet to be understood.

Until 1922, the prognosis for all Type 1 Diabetics was death. That year two scientists, Sir Frederick Grant Banting and Charles Best, discovered insulin and its significance. Banting and Best could have gotten extremely rich by patenting their discovery, but they chose not to, so that relatively inexpensive insulin therapy could be immediately available worldwide. (Via Mental Floss)

My son was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic in the 4th grade. This is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. In a few days he will be 21 and is in great health. His life was spared by the discovery of two men who saw their life’s work as art – something to be given to enrich the lives of others. It wouldn’t have been wrong for them to profit from the discovery. They just chose a different, albeit higher way. For that, I will forever be grateful.

As an artist and songwriter, I understand the importance of copyrights and intellectual property. I have both benefitted and been a benefactor from my artistry. I understand the difference very clearly. So before you rush to conclusions, I am not judging or condemning artists being paid for their work. I am simply stating that there are times that art takes on a more meaningful life as a gift to mankind.

I’m grateful for two men who overlooked the temptation to be mercenary with their life’s work.

I’m grateful they saw their discovery as a gift to others.

My son’s life depended on their art.

Someone’s life may depend on yours, too.

Say hello to Summer! And the heat…

June 25, 2012 in gratitude, thankfulness with 6 Comments

Welcome to your summer. Heat and all. In Texas we are now into the triple-digit-temperature part of summer.

Before any of us decide to complain about it, remember the picture above… from a broadcast, apparently from the surface of the sun… or somewhere else like a fiery furnace. Hmmmm. 775 degrees? And how about that 2 degree guarantee?

Or maybe it was just a typo. Either way, it makes our low 100s seem like easy street.

Seriously, we all know summer is HOT. Especially in Texas.

So, instead of developing the complaining habit again this year, let’s make a new habit – showing and speaking gratitude. It usually takes the same amount of words to say something constructive, helpful and uplifting as it does to gripe and complain.

Let’s start our new habit by practicing on our words about the outside temperature. After all, it could be 775 degrees outside.

Let’s do this.

Are you in?

“… I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah” ~ Psalm 77:3 (NKJV)

 

Here, there and everywhere!

May 29, 2012 in family, gratitude, Rest, thankfulness with 6 Comments

This Friday our daughter Nicole is getting married to the man of her dreams. We are thrilled for the two of them. What a team!

I’m sure you can imagine the level of chaos in our lives and in our home this week as all of the final preparations are being made. Dinners with family (Happy Birthday, Mom), errands, wedding set-up, airport runs, reception set-up, cakes, flowers, more errands, rehearsal, rehearsal lunch, more errands and (last but not least) lot’s of checks being written.

In the midst of all of this activity we are remembering to stop, breathe and be thankful. God is faithful. We are grateful for all He is doing in and with us this week. Busy is okay sometimes if there’s purpose in it. Trust me, there’s plenty of purpose going on here… our family is growing. I’ll have a new son in just a few days.

So as we go about our week of preparation, know we are enjoying the Lord, enjoying each other and enjoying our lives.

Here, there and everywhere – here we come!

What a thrill.

Celebrating for the 23rd time!!!

March 13, 2012 in celebration, family, gratitude, time with 2 Comments

Today is my daughter’s birthday. She’s turning 23 and I’m not sure where all the time went. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that long ago that Debbie and I went to the hospital for her birth… but, birthdays don’t lie. Still, I’m not quite sure how it’s possible.

I’m not sad about the time that’s passed as if has gotten away from us in a bad way. It hasn’t in the least. I have no regrets. I have been present not just in her life, but in the details of her life for all of her life. I love her with all my heart and she loves me, too. I’m really not sad at all, just reflective.

Why am I so reflective?

23 years ago we named her Nicole and gave her our family name. This will be her last birthday with our family name.

In June she will marry the man of her dreams. However, long before Jordan became the man of her dreams he was the man of our prayers. For 23 years we have been praying for her mate, believing God for a man that will love and care for her as Christ loves the church. Believing for a man who will make her laugh. A man she can believe in. The man for her.

She found him.

We couldn’t be more thrilled. We are thankful beyond words.

Today, we’re celebrating Nicole’s birthday with a bridal photo shoot. A perfect transition!

March 13th will always be “Nicole Day” in our home, as it has been for the last 23 years. Next March 13th will still be “Nicole Day.” We will still be her parents. She will still be our girl. The only thing changing is her family name. While this is our last time to celebrate Nicole Allen Day, next year will be our first year to celebrate Nicole Covarelli Day.

Same girl.

Same birthday.

Different name.

Help us celebrate this year’s “Nicole Day” by following her amazing blog, Healthy Isn’t Hard. Maybe she’ll help you as much as she helps us to stay healthy. She’s well worth following and well worth celebrating!

I love you Nicole Allen. Happy 23rd birthday!

What are you thankful for today?

November 24, 2011 in family, gratitude, thankfulness with 1 Comment

Thanksgiving. A day we Americans set aside to gain some perspective, make memories, remember our heritage, gather with family and friends and, yes, eat some turkey. There’s something to be said for being thankful. Hopefully we practice gratitude on more days than today, but it is pretty amazing to live in a nation that takes an official day off to remember and give thanks to God for all He has done.

Every family has their traditions. Ours include spending Thanksgiving with friends – this year a house full of them. We’re trying some new things today, too. On the happy side, we are running our first 5k today. At least I think that’s happy. On the not so happy side, we will have an empty chair normally filled by our son, Justin – going to Arkansas with other ORU students for his backpacking class. Bittersweet. We’ll miss him today at our table, but we are thankful for the amazing things God has and is doing in his life.

I’m not sure I want to subject you to my “thankful for” list. Trust me, it’s a big one. I feel like the most blessed man on earth, loved by God and the most amazing wife and kids I know. I’m sure it get’s better, but I can’t even imagine how. There’s more. There’s a lot more. Pages more. More than you want to read. More than you want to know about me.

Let me just give you the short version:

I’m thankful that I’m “… living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for me to live…” Ephesians 2:10

What are you thankful for today?

Time For An Attitude Adjustment?

May 6, 2010 in attitude, gratitude, thankfulness with 2 Comments

Let’s face it. Some days we wake up with a less than stellar attitude. OK, I’ll say it – some days my attitude just plain stinks. C’mon, don’t pretend like I’m the only one… I know I’m not alone in this.

Generally, I’m a pretty even-tempered person. I don’t usually overreact or over-express, but I do have to deal with my inner self sometimes. Most days I can rejoice that “God looks on the heart…,” but some days it’s sobering for me. I might be able to fake my way through with most people, but never myself or God. Nobody really knows what someone else is thinking or feeling on the inside, especially if one keeps their “ugliness” to themselves.

Some days I just need an attitude adjustment. Some days you need one, too.

When I’m dealing with my attitude, thankfulness is usually the first thing to go out the window. Therefore… it’s the first thing I need to get back in check. Exercising thankfulness and meditating on gratitude will turn this ship around quicker than anything else. Sometimes that is difficult when I “don’t feel like it,” so it must be done as an act of my will. In those times, I must make a decision to find gratitude again and do it on purpose.

The next thing on the thankfulness “road to recovery” is being honest with God about the attitude in question. He already knows it anyway, so we might as well admit it to Him. Believe it or not, He understands the temptation to have an attitude problem:

“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT)

Maybe it’s time for an attitude adjustment. Some days we need one.