Tag Archives: gratitude

Guest post: The great good aunt

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Today marks the beginning of a series of guest bloggers writing about the good aunt. In the post below, you’ll get to meet an amazing author and friend of mine, Jerel Law. He’s going to tell you about his sister-in-law, who isn’t just a good aunt. She’s a great good aunt.

Jerel is the author of Spirit Fighter, the first in the Jonah Stone: Son of Angels series. For all you good aunts, uncles, moms and dads out there, this is a great read for ages 10 to 14 (but I also think it’s a great read for anyone older, too). Fire Prophet, the second book in the series, is due out this December.

Jerel and his son Christopher at a recent book signing

Just a reminder that the “Thank your good aunt” contest is still going on, and if you win, you could choose to receive Spirit Fighter as your prize. So get those entries in. And now, here’s Jerel:

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I’m grateful that Hope asked me to contribute to the Good Aunt series. I’ve had some terrific aunts in my life, and my children have some now. I want to tell you about one in particular, though – my sister-in-law, Dana. I want to share with you what it is that makes her a very, very special aunt. And to understand that, you need to know something about our last couple of years. Continue reading →

The good aunt and thank yous

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Today was the first day of school here where I live. I know some of you had your first day of school earlier in the summer, and others won’t send the kids back until next week. Those of you who don’t have children to pack off to school may still find yourselves reacting to the changes all around you: driving to work through hectic school zones, shopping among the back-to-school frenzy or even gearing up for the last month of the quarter at work.

Trust me, I know this is a busy season for many of you. So thank you for taking the time to drop by my blog today. I’ve got an exciting contest to announce at the end of today’s post, and I’m thrilled you get to hear all about it first.

Today’s theme is all about thank yous. Show of hands: how many of you learned to write thank you notes at an early age? My mom always made sure that by the end of Christmas break, we had written thank you notes for every gift we received from someone other than close family. Birthday thank you notes didn’t have such a hard-and-fast deadline, but my mom still made sure we wrote them in a timely manner.

Continue reading →

When God brings a parasol to your pity party

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve found myself praying for shade a lot this hot summer. I’m more grateful than usual when one of the rare spots under a tree in a parking lot is open. Clouds make me almost giddy when I’m out for a morning run. And I’ve even found myself thankful for a large truck’s shadow cast over my car while I wait at a traffic signal.

But I’ll admit. Sometimes I forget to be grateful for these gifts of shade and comfort. Sometimes I’m stuck in a one-woman pity party, and I can’t see past my own bad mood to acknowledge all that’s wonderful around me.

God had to know when He created us that we humans would tend toward pity parties. We have plenty of biblical pity parties to learn from, and in one of my favorites, God even brings a parasol to the party.

A parasol for a pity party?

Continue reading →

The tortoise and the hare

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“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1c

Many of you already know that I completed my first marathon this past Saturday. I didn’t win (I left that for the East Africans), but I felt victorious when I crossed the finish line. And the whole experience has left me with much to be grateful for: family and friends who prayed for my safety during the race and celebrated with me in various ways before I ran and after I finished; my husband who was such a good sport about dealing with other spectators and traffic jams to cheer me on at various points of the race; and most of all, God’s love and protection and grace for enabling me to finish the race well.  Continue reading →

The marathoner’s psalm

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I was out doing a really tough run this morning, not tough because it was the longest run I’ve ever done (that was last week), but because of the warm, humid conditions. While I was running, I kept thinking of something my husband said to me this past weekend. He advised me in his ever-so-gentle-way to find ways to think more positively as I run.

He’s right. Negative thoughts don’t usually creep in during my training runs, although there are hard runs where I don’t feel especially happy afterward. But in tough races, for reasons I don’t understand, a negativity sets up shop in my mind.

Then the grumpiness pours out along with the sweat. And who gets the brunt of that ill temper? My husband. And I’m usually at my grumpiest right when he sweetly comes back from his finish to run back in with me and cheer me to a strong finish. Not at all what he deserves.

So this morning, I tried to use the especially soggy conditions to force myself to think of positives. I found myself grateful for many things along the run: the ability to run at all, the time to run, a shaded path and much more.

Then – because I had a long time still to run – I started thinking of Psalm 23 and ways that it applied to my life as a runner. I started adding new words, and the result became my prayer of gratitude for the morning, a psalm for marathoners that I hope you’ll enjoy reading, whether you run at all or consider yourself an unrepentant couch potato. Maybe it’ll encourage you to take a challenge or negative mindset you’re dealing with and turn it into a psalm of praise: Continue reading →