An Avalanche of Gratitude

Today I'm grateful because on Monday, I'll be a

featured speaker at a Lutheran Church Conference;

here's one of the slides I've been working on.

I believe it's true; gratitude is a powerful gift that grounds us.

Lately I've witnessed so many small kindnesses, all of which have 

made such a big avalanche that has positively swallowed me up.

On Tuesday morning, a visit to see Mrs. Dixon's fifth-grade class 

filled with my former students at Bales Intermediate.

It made my heart sing to see them again and to share

Mo Willems' new picture book, Because. 

The week before, my second-grade neighbor across the street 

kindly invited me (and Winthrop) to visit his class.

 Those superheroes melted my heart with their warm welcome

and their hard work on mastering the Empathy Switch.

At my new school, I've seen kindness initiatives

popping up all over; this one invites our third-grade crusaders

 to catch one another being kind and give them a 

kindness citation. On Fridays, five lucky winners

get to learn with their shoes off all day.

Is that a fun way to give them gratitude for their kindness?

We also hung our Thanksgiving chains after discussing

how gratitude links us to one another.

On one side of the link, we wrote/drew what or whom we are grateful for; on the other side, we wrote/drew how we show that gratitude. They've added a decorative touch to our cafeteria this week.

On World Kindness Day, we turned our Starbucks sleeves

into colorful thankfulness messages for our teachers. 

I've also gotten to travel via Skype to read to classes 

in Ohio, Meridian, TX, and Pennsylvania;

an avalanche of things to be grateful for, for sure.

As I look in the rearview mirror, back at everything this month

has brought my way, I'm grateful for a myriad of beautiful things;

for faith and joy,

for hope and health,

for comfort and calm, 

for family and friends,

for sunrises and sunsets,

for mentors and teachers,

for blessings and burdens,

for music and mindfulness,

for invitations and inspiration,

for writing opportunities,

for peace and provision,

for sunshine and rain,

for cooler weather,

for Fall foliage,

for laughter,

for love,

for life,

and

so

much

more.

  How are you making gratitude a verb?