Thursday Oct. 10^th

 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights” James 1:17

 Today I knocked my “gratitude giving” right out of the park! Finally! Thursday’s are early activity days for two of our three children. Ron takes Ben to his 6 am hockey practice and I drive Jessica to her 7:15 volleyball practice. Most mornings I stay in bed till the very last second, but not today. I rose and shone, got myself ready, made Ron’s favourite breakfast smoothie, turned the heat up in the bathroom for his shower – hockey practice is chilly – and then topped it off with a trip to the US for a cheap gas fill up, all before 8 am. Shocking, I know! I almost didn’t recognize myself. For a non-morning person it was very surreal. But they were all things I knew he’d appreciate.

As excited as I was by my “out of the blue” acts of gratitude, I realized I’ve developed a bad habit of pointing out when I’ve done a good deed. I’m worried it will go unnoticed and it seems natural to say, “Oh, did you see what I did for you?” or “Hey, did you like it that I….?”  But remember self, it’s not about you. So today I said nothing, and guess what? Those nice things still got noticed! I know that may not always be the case, and I’m sure I’ll still feel the need to point things out every now and then, but hopefully not all the time.

Friday Oct. 11^th

 “I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership” Philippians 1:3-5

 I’m starting to understand that showing gratitude towards your spouse doesn’t take much, especially if you know what makes him tick! One thing that drives Ron completely crazy is how I can never remember little jobs like dropping off his dry cleaning and then picking it up again. Seems simple enough. But for some reason I’m continually challenged by this task. I’ll drive for days with his poor work clothes balled up in my trunk until he finally has no choice but to drop them off himself. I even have a pocketful of excuses readily available in my defense: “I didn’t have time” or “I don’t ask you to drop off my dry cleaning” and my favourite, “I have to drive the kids all over the place” – I’m not sure how this one’s relevant but I still use it.

So today I’m happy to say I made a point of picking up his dry cleaning – that had been ready for over a week. Funny enough those clothes got me thinking a lot about the sacrifices Ron has made for our family. A few years ago he left a job he loved, which often took him away from home, so he could spend more time with the kids and I. After making us a priority like that you’d think I’d have “dry cleaning” at the top of my to do list every week! It’s hard to say why I’ve been so negligent – selfishness, laziness, stubbornness – all possibilities – but I think the worst of all is that I just haven’t realized how important it was for both of us.

Sunday Oct. 13^th

 “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20:35

Today is my last journal entry about my gratitude for Ron, and in a few short days I realized finding ways to show my appreciation wasn’t hard, and often it was the simple things that held the most meaning.

To wrap things up I thought I’d go out with a bang and secretly wash and vacuum his car for him. Not wanting to be left out of a good secret, Jessica and our youngest, Drew, quickly came out and gave me a hand. It was fun to watch them get excited about doing something nice for their dad. I didn’t ask them, they just wanted to help, and maybe spray me with the hose. Either way, I was happy to have their help. While I was washing away I started thinking about how often that car takes the kids to school so I can have a break, or sleep in an extra five minutes. Things for which I have been so grateful. Regularly practicing gratitude towards Ron may not make our marriage perfect, stop us from fighting or give us like minds, but I believe it can help to make us more unified, harmonious and kinder to one another.

If you missed Part 1 of this post, read it here.
To read about the idea behind “A Gratitude Journal Exposed” click here.