It is so easy to get into a negative funk. Sometimes it’s justified…more often it’s not. That’s why I signed on to Ann Voskamp’s “One Thousand Gifts”—to give me a reason to turn around my natural tendency to gripe. I know I’m not the only one who has this problem. (I’ll start. Hello, my name…
Read MoreAll articles filed in Gratitude Community
Counting My Blessings
At the end of a couple gripey, negative weeks, it seems appropriate to shift my attitude and focus on the blessings in my life, instead of complaining. I’m thankful for my husband, God’s gift to me—the partner, best friend and helpmate that I once thought I would never find…who, despite leaving the same light on…
Read MoreA Week’s Worth of Gratitude
A filigree-and-marmalade sunrise A perfect evening for a mile and a half walk with my baby…air shimmering gold in the sun, and brooding blue in the shade, with the perfect breeze nudging fluffy clouds across a pristine sky, newly washed by rain. Bright baby eyes turned behind in the stroller, fixed upon me, the center…
Read MoreCultivating an Attitude of Gratitude
Crises tend to bring out the best in us. We rise to the occasion; we set our teeth, hunker down and lean into the wind, knowing that complaining won’t help—we just have to get through it. It’s not the big stuff that brings out the pessimist in us. It’s the everyday Murphy. And so it…
Read MoreTurning over a new leaf
Here on the cusp of spring…or really, deep in the glorious wonder of it…life is beginning to settle. For the past three nights, Nicholas has slept longer at night and wanted to nurse less when he did wake up, taking up the slack during the day. Last night, for a wonder, Julianna actually slept through.…
Read MoreRandom Musings from the Pinnacles
Long vs. short writing projects Lately I’ve been chafing at how little writing I’m doing aside from blogging and The Novel. If I had 4-5 hours, I could easily spend them, and I’d get more projects done despite working on said novel. That, however, is not my life. So I’m just trying to get…
Read MoreThe Gratitude List for Dec. 14th…
(incorporating the Advent Reclamation Project Report for Week 2) Julianna’s first, tottering steps, on Friday, which charged the air in the house with excitement as Gerti (her PT), Alex and I all clustered in the living room and Julianna’s face turned into one enormous, mouth-open smile. She knew it was a big deal, too. …
Read MoreWalls
The last week or two have been disheartening to me as the mother of a child with special needs. Every few days, something new pops up to outrage or discourage me. It started on the first of November, when CNN reported that a doctor’s request for permanent residency in Australia was denied because his…
Read MoreOne Thousand Gifts
A week or so ago, when I did my tour of blogs, I came across one to add to my blogroll. Ann Voskamp keeps a blog called “A Holy Experience,” and one of her projects is the 1000 gifts. Read her post here: http://aholyexperience.com/2006/11/gift-list-thousand-things.html This is where my list begins. And in…
Read More
Kathleen M. Basi 