Beatitude Attitudes, vol. 4

Yay! Rakhi's back! I'm so THANKFUL, Rakhi, that you offer this opportunity to reflect on our blessings each week. The perfect antidote to a case of the blahs, or being tied up in knots, or other less than ideal mindsets. Anyone who's reading this, come join us, it's a refreshing break from your daily struggles.


[1] Blessed am I to have a spiritual director. I think of all the people who are looking for a spiritual director, and the much larger group of people who never heard of such a thing and don't have anyone who can help them to grow in their faith and holiness. My spiritual director (who is also our priest- the one on the left in the photo) is the 4th one I have been privileged to have, and he is the best of all!

[2] Blessed am I to have a husband (the one in the middle in the photo) who loves God with his whole heart. Last Sunday we had a congregational meeting to go over the basic rules of the diocese regarding each of the sacraments, and in the discussion of the various ministries and services that the laity have in the church, our priest had to give a long series of examples of who he would authorize to be a godparent and who would not be appropriate. The issue in question was whether someone who is faithful and obedient in the Church, but whose spouse is not, could be a godparent (the answer was that the faithful one can and the non-practicing spouse can't). Since this situation applies to a fair number of people in our parish, it brought home to me how blessed I am that my husband and I have been together on our faith journey for the past 40+ years (and it hasn't been a straight-line path either!)

[3] Blessed am I that we have excess to share with friends when they're having rough patches: food from the garden, tools, clothes, money. It's been a little tight for us this week but when I found out that my good friend broke her arm and therefore can't work (cleaning homes) and so can't send money to her son in the city to pay for his meals and transportation while he's in school, I was SO glad that I had enough available to cover their needs. God especially blesses us in the ways we find to share with one another.


[4] Blessed am I that our weather is unseasonably cool (in the 60s at night!) with fog in the morning. That means that it's not too late to plant some things that I had neglected to get in the ground when it was "the right time" to plant.

[5] Blessed am I for the gift of discernment of the obvious. This is a new thing for me, and one which is making my life SOOO much easier. I tend to "over think" things and this past week I've had several breakthroughs where I have simply "seen" the obvious answer for something I've been pondering for awhile. Simple! Done! I hope this continues...


[6] Blessed am I when I find a new-to-me blog that is uplifting and full of grace. This week I found All Things Reintjes and I have just finished reading through all of Christina's back posts. Although it took several hours, I have no regrets since I had just come back from having 3 cavities filled at the dentist's and my entire mouth was numb, so I was too discombobulated to do any of my regular stuff. Now if I could just figure out how to pronounce that name!


NOTE: this is NOT my house :)
[7] Blessed am I that I am able to take "time out from regular stuff" without having to be really sick to justify it! I remember how secretly satisfying it was to get the flu because I had an excuse to stay in bed and read. Now that I'm retired, nobody's expecting me to be anywhere or do anything so I can take time outs whenever I want to (not that I want to very often - I love having a regular schedule to keep me from totally spinning out).

Head on over to Pitter Patter Diaries for more blessings, and bless us with your contributions to the list!