i am grateful. i am grateful, i am grateful

I am saying it like a mantra until it sticks. I have to admit that lately I have been super annoyed by life. I just realized this morning though that all the things I am annoyed by are ridiculous and that I need to have an attitude of gratefulness for them.

So here are a couple things that I am trying to be grateful for:

1. the weather. It is "gorgeous" outside. 71 degrees currently, according to the weather channel. I know that for some of you stuck in the north pole (ahem-trish) this sounds glorious.

my selfish response: But I LOVE the cold weather and we haven't had winter yet! a couple days of sweater weather and that's it!
grateful response: Wow, how nice to not be cooped up inside with two little ones. Its great to be able to go to the park, keep the doors open and not have to worry about what to dress the girls in.

2. Providers Pantry. This is a program that gives seriously discounted food to anyone who wants to sign up, and for us- its free! Someone has anonymously signed up our entire staff for the last two years! (we get one box of food a month)

my selfish response: I want to be able to buy my own food and not have to plan meals around the low-grade, low-quality meat that we get every month. It is such a hassle to have to boil the fat out of the ground beef, cut the grizzle off of the chicken and try to come up with inventive ways of using items I would never buy.
grateful response: It is SO nice (especially in this economy) to have such an abundance of food available for FREE! Thanks to the person(s) who have been such a blessing and saved us so much money! So what if I don't know what to do ribbettes and don't get to buy my favorite brand of blueberry muffin mix? How wonderful to not have to worry about having food and how great to always have enough to make dinner for friends too!

3. Our new church buliding. On January 5th we closed on our first facility for redeemer church.

my selfish response: ugh! I hate how much time this is taking. Drew eats, sleeps and breathes building projects. He is up there all the time getting stuff ready, coordinating work days and working on things himself. Although it is looking MUCH better, there is still SO much to do and not enough money to do it all.
grateful response: WHAT A BLESSING to be in a building that is (except for cosmetic repairs) functional and ready to be moved into! How great it will be to have a permanent facility that we can use during the week, not have to haul all of our equipment to every week and just call our own! Who cares if the carpet is different in everyroom and the kitchen has ugly cabinets?

4. Staying home.

my selfish response: I feel like I am loosing my identity! There is so much I want to do and how am I suppose to do it with little kids running around all the time? I miss being jordan- apart from being keadryn and sayla's mom.
grateful response: it is truly amazing that while so many people have to work in order to make ends meet, Drew's job allows me to be able to stay with our kids. I don't have to be in a job I hate just to get a paycheck but get to be raising my girls. AND- we can afford to put Kead in KDO 2 days a week so that I get some alone time with Sayla and Kead gets some much needed time with other kids. What a privelage!

I am sure there are more, these are just things i found myself being grumpy about today! Yikes. Pray with me that I will have a more grateful attitude for the blessings in our life!