How to Live Out Gratitude When Life Is Stressful
As I type these words, I look out my window at a beautiful yard with palm trees and a pool. It feels like a tropical paradise, but it’s just my backyard. I often sit and contemplate my surroundings, and I am thankful for all the wonderful provisions God has allowed me to enjoy. Just out of view is my flourishing vegetable garden. Yes, I can grow vegetables all year long!
The road to our little earthly paradise was long, complicated, and busy, but now that I am here, I am grateful daily for my new tropical life.
The plan was to put our New York home on the market during the spring of 2020, which turned out to be right in the peak of a very scary time, the beginning of Covid. Everything was hard, and everything took a long time.
My daughter’s wedding was canceled twice, the banks took forever, and our first trip to Florida to look at houses did not begin well because everything suddenly closed down, and sellers did not want people in their homes for fear of getting sick. We managed to see a few houses during that trip but had to wait for our house to be in contract before moving forward.
Our third attempt at my daughter’s wedding was a success but much work. During the wedding, we got a call from our real estate agent telling us that we had a buyer. That is when the absolute whirlwind began. Once our New York house was in contract, we revisited our future city and looked at many places. We knew we had to make an immediate decision as homes were flying off the market, and offering below the asking price or procrastinating would not work.
A half-decade long dream
We wanted a house near the beach, but none were suitable, so we picked a place closer to a major highway. That turned out to be a Godsend. We are not far from the beach, yet close to everything imaginable.
My husband and I packed up our New York house nearly three years ago. We knew exactly where we hoped to end up for a half-decade before the move. It was a big deal leaving some family and our church of many years.
I’m unsure how many blessings came from Covid, but we received a big one. While our church service was online during the early days of the pandemic, we watched a second service each Sunday from a church in Port St. Lucie, Calvary PSL. It became the pattern, each Sunday for months, we watched the two services, and we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we had found our new church without ever stepping foot in it.
What a blessing it has been. We love everything about our new church home. The preaching, pastors, and music. Our small group. And last but not least, the diverse group of people who attend each week.
Choosing gratitude in the middle of stress
There was lots of stress, happiness, and sadness during the summer of 2020–pulling off the wedding and packing a house that was my husband’s childhood home and our home together for three decades was a challenge. I had a post-cancer scare with a biopsy scheduled two days after the wedding, the following month, my dear brother passed away, and we came close to losing the Florida home because of the Covid slowness of the banks.
Day after day, the stress was tangible, and we were exhausted. But we made it through, thanks to the grace of God. Life can be challenging, but God is faithful. I always try to remember 2 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says, “Rejoice always, pray continually and be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
One thing that continues to strike me in this new Florida life is the way I feel when I come home after a day or so away. I walk in the door, look around and think, “Wow, how I love this place.”
Meet Regina Marcazzo-Skarka
Regina Marcazzo-Skarka is a writer, journalist, and lover of travel and foreign languages. But, most importantly, she loves Jesus.
She has studied in France, and has studied, lived, and worked in Italy. Having traveled to over 25 countries, exploring the world has only just begun. She has also been part of numerous domestic and international mission trips. She loves getting to know people, their languages, and their culture. A life dream is to speak five languages.
Regina retired almost three years ago after 17 years of teaching high school French and Italian and has no intention of slowing down. Prior to teaching, she worked as a freelance journalist and a staff writer for local Long Island, New York weekly newspapers. She also spent two years as a United Nations employee in the Department of Public Information. She is married and has two married children, a granddaughter, and a grandson on the way.
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.
