It's June!

"Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift." (John Ortberg)

What a great reminder that is as we head into June. Summers can get so busy and so out of control for a woman. The kids are around and heading out the door, husbands want impromtu excursions, cooking changes and the house always needs a good cleaning. Gratitude often goes out the window for me when I am just trying to hold on to some order in my life. That is why I have incorporated the summer holidays into a celebration of 'life as a gift'.

Early spring, it is easy to be grateful. The warmth, the blue sky, the chirping birds, the new signs of life...they all make me whisper a prayer of thanksgiving.

By Memorial Day, I am usually in high gear and my 'to do' list for summer needs to be implemented so I am focused on 'doing'. That is why I have made it a ritual to be grateful for the 'gift of life' over the Memorial Day Weekend, 4th of July and again on Labor Day. I spend a brief amount of time writing out what is going on in my life and what I am grateful for. It has been an exercise that keeps me centered and slowed down. Usually, Memorial Day comes the last week of May, so as I turned my calendar to June today, I reminded myself to celebrate this wonderful summer season and just enjoy the moments.

Contentment is rooted in being grateful. Paul says in Philippians 4:11 that contentment is 'learned' so by setting a reminder for myself as I turn the calendar on June 1st, July 4th and Sept 1st, I am 'learning' to be grateful and develop some roots of contentment in my soul.

I turned the calendar this morning, and I also turned my attitude around as I listed what I was thankful for at the end of May 2009. It's the good old summertime, don't let it slip away with all your busyness. Count your blessings and celebrate life as the gift that it is.