How an Unexpected Moment Made Me Supremely Content and Grateful
I sat back in the chair and sighed. It wasn’t a sigh of exasperation or frustration but rather one of supreme contentment. My husband looked at me, chuckled, and shook his head. But with his eyes meeting mine, I could tell he, too, was savoring this moment.
You may think we were sitting on the beach, skin warmed by the sun or perhaps on our backyard patio surrounded by birds singing their beautiful melodies, but we were in no such place.
We were actually seated in the middle of a crowded mall food court, surrounded by crying babies and all sorts of fast food smells.
But my heart was as warm as my skin on a summer’s day and as pleased as when I listen to the birds’ songs.
After a second sigh I exclaimed, “It just doesn’t get better than this! Who could have guessed we would end up at the mall today with all our kids?”
A rare together moment
An unexpected, unforced, spur-of-the-moment trip to the mall with our four growing kids–time spent together–is all it took for my heart to swell with gratitude.
The weeks prior had been busy, to put it mildly. End-of-school-year obligations, final exams, and spring events had filled our calendars.
This particular morning, however, one person’s announcement of needing to go to the mall turned into another’s offer to go, then another’s, then another’s. All six of us climbed into the van, another thing that seemed like ages since we’ve done since one of our kids now drives.
As I sat in the food court, my heart continuing to bask in the presence of my family, my mind began to wander: if this is how grateful I am for the time spent walking, chatting, and eating with my children, how much more must my Heavenly Father’s heart be blessed by time spent with His? If having unforced time with mine means so much to me, how much more must it mean to Him?
In that moment I was reminded of what I’m most grateful for: relationships. The relationship I have with my Heavenly Father and the relationships He has blessed me with on this side of eternity.
Seeing God’s blessings
Isn’t it just like Him to use the most unexpected moments and least likely of places to allow a heart to feel so full, so content, and so grateful?
And aren’t you grateful that the experience of gratitude isn’t reserved for the once-in-a-lifetime vacation or the perfect setting with perfect people, but rather can be found in the small, mundane, and ordinary moments of our days?
Whether you’re on the beach today or listening to the birds serenading you–or if you’re in a crowded, noisy food court–or even in your own home surrounded by piles of laundry and dirty dishes, what can you be thankful for? Who can you be thankful for?
Let’s make it our prayer to have eyes that see His blessings, hearts that thank Him for the big and small, and mouths that declare the goodness of God, Amen?
Meet Cara Blondo
Whether through teaching Bible studies, speaking to groups in person or online, or writing devotionals and other Christ-centered resources, Cara Blondo is passionate about helping women connect biblical truths to their everyday lives, knowing personally of its transforming power through the healing of a years-long battle with an eating disorder. After experiencing real hope and lasting change, she wanted nothing more than to share God’s Word with others. Having been trained in full-time college ministry, she served as a college missionary, on multiple short-term mission trips spanning three continents, and in her local church for the past 25 years. She and her husband have been married for more than twenty years and are blessed to have four children.
Cara would love to connect on The One Thing Desired blog, on Instagram or Facebook, and through her podcast, (found wherever you listen to podcasts). For more on gratitude, you can find her YouVersion devotional series, “Growing in Gratitude” here.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
Creating Ripples
If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.
