Gratitude

This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, ‘It’s okay honey, Mommy’s here.’

Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can’t be comforted.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON’T.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they’ll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.

And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars so that when their kids asked, ‘Did you see me, Mom?’ they could say, ‘Of course, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,’ and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner. And for all the mothers who count to ten instead, but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the (grand)mothers who wanted to, but just couldn’t find the words.

This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.

For all the mothers who read ‘Goodnight, Moon’ twice a night for a year. And then read it again, ‘Just one more time.’

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls ‘Mom?’ in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home — or even away at college — or have their own families.

This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they’d be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up right away.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can’t find the words to reach them. For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.

For all the mothers of the victims of recent school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting.

For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.

What makes a good mother anyway? Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?

Or is it in her heart? Is it the ache she feels when she watches her son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?

The jolt that takes her from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put her hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The panic, years later, that comes again at 2 A.M. when she just wants to hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in her home?

Or the need to flee from wherever she is and hug her child when she hears news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation…

And for mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. For all of us…

Hang in there. In the end we can only do the best we can. Tell them every day that we love them. And pray and never stop being a mother…

Please pass along to all the mothers in your life.

‘Home is what catches you when you fall - and we all fall.’

Please pass this to a wonderful mother you know.

Here are some links showing other Mothers Day cards…

A Mother’s Day Dilemma: What to say to that “Mother” of a mom. - The one day where people across the country are manipulated by greeting card giants to profess undying, unconditional, obligatory love for mothers all over the land. And good thing they do! How else would the most thankless, draining, …

Quick Mother’s Day Card - Here is a quick card for Mother’s Day but really cute! This was made with the Punches Plus Classy Brass template from Stampin’ Up! A really simple to use template that incorporates paper piercing templates that fit PERFECTLY around the …

Need a Nice Mother’s Day Card…On the Cheap??? - There is just something about a nice card attached to that perfect gift to give to that special someone whatever occasion it is!! The card is the perfect place to write a special note to show someone just how much you care and …

True Friend! Mother’s Day Card #7 - Ok, here is the final Mother’s Day card I’m going to show you (this year!!!). I made so many because I need 4 of them for myself plus I wanted to have some on hand for display. Some of them I like to keep because of the layout. …

Mother’s Day Card - Here is my first attempt at a Mother’s Day card. I am actually quite happy with it. I used my Walk in the Garden Cartridge for my cricut. I also used some drywall tape from the dollar store for some texture at the bottom of the card. …

Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun, only that can produce beautiful barn wood

A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking.

He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway.

I told him right off he was crazy.

He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car,

his hands, and the way he talked.

He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn

sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale.

I told him he had a funny idea of beauty.

Sure, it was a handsome building in its day.

But then, there’s been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind.

The summer sun’s beat down on that old barn till all the paint’s gone, and the wood has turned silver gray.

Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired.

Yet, that fellow called it beautiful.

That set me to thinking.

I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn.

The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den in a new country home he’s building down the road.

He said you couldn’t get paint that beautiful.

Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun, only that can produce beautiful barn wood.

It came to me then. We’re a lot like that, you and I.

Only it’s on the inside that the beauty grows with us.

Sure we turn silver gray too… and lean a bit more than

we did when we were young and full of sap.

But the Good Lord knows what He’s doing.

And as the years pass He’s busy using the hard weather of our lives,

the dry spells and the stormy seasons to do a job of beautifying

our souls that nothing else can produce.

And to think how often folks holler because they want life easy!

They took the old barn down today and hauled it away

to beautify a rich man’s house.

And I reckon someday you and I’ll be hauled off

to Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good Lord

has for us on the Great Sky Ranch.

And I suspect we’ll be more beautiful

then for the seasons we’ve been through here…

and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father’s house.

May there be peace within you today.

May you trust God that you are

exactly where you are meant to be.

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Anyone that has read or heard anything about “The Secret” is aware of the message that what you put out comes back in kind. That if we send out good thoughts, the universe will provide the same to us.

It is for this reason, we need to be very aware of our thoughts. Very aware of the kind of mind games we play. It is very easy to get caught up in the whirl winds of the mind and let out thoughts guide us into a state of fear and depression.

Tony Robbins has suggested an interesting exercise. Walk into a room and look around the room for 30 seconds and become aware of the brown items in the room. Now close your eyes and start discussing the items that you recall that are blue. This is a hard task to accomplish. Because the concentration was on the brown items, it is hard to remember anything else.

That is the way some of us handle our lives. We walk thru life looking for the brown things around us. The things that are depressing and not very uplifting. As a result, this is all that we are aware of in our lives. When asked how things are, the only items that we can discuss are the bad things that receive our focus.

It is said that one day, someone asked Buddha about the secrets to the Universe: why it was created, was there a God, etc. The wise man answered that this was of limited interest:’ Imagine you were walking in the forest and someone threw a poisoned arrow at you. Would you lose time trying to understand who did it or why? No, you’d run for your life to find a cure’.

So many of us waste our lives trying to find out why things happen “to” us. Why we are victims of what life has to dish out. If this is what we concentrate on daily, this is what we will manifest in our lives, situations that will reinforce the belief that we are a victim.

A thought that is in my mind the vast majority of the time is “Thank You”. I believe that by maintaining “an attitude of gratitude” I will invite things and situations into my life that will reinforce that gratitude.

I say thank you for the things that I have in my life and the things that are not part of my current life situation. I am grateful for what my higher power (whether you call it God, Jesus, Buddha, or someone else) has placed in my life. I may have some health issues but my health could always be worse.

When I see someone that, as a result of their current life issues, has found it necessary to live on the street and ask for help on the street corner, I say thank you. I do not feel better than these individuals, I am grateful that I am not in that situation.

If someone thinks that my line of thinking is off base, that is their problem. I believe that I have a great life and that a lot of my benefits come from the fact that I look for life to get better rather than worse. I look at the glass as half full rather than half empty.

Each morning that I get out of bed it is a great day. That is because “I am above ground, not in a box and sucking air”.

Life is as good as I allow it to be.

Have you ever wondered if there was a quick way to begin having a good day every day?

Are your days less than great and somewhat depressing? Do you constantly see the bad things that are going on all around you?

Then I have the perfect way to start having good days all the time. You can create a gratitude list each and every day.

That is right, every morning, right after getting up, write down ten things for which you are grateful. Make a list of ten items daily that brings a little smile or some pleasure to your life, things that make your life easier or more enjoyable. And, each day, make it a new list full of different items.

Regardless of how bad you may think your life is, there are things that make you grateful or put a little bit of pleasure in your life.

When I look at the sunrise on the way to work, I have a choice to make my thoughts good or bad. I can think that I would rather be back in bed sleeping the morning away.

Or, I can think I am grateful that my eyes work so that I can see this beautiful sunrise. How many people in the world would change places with you in a heartbeat if they had your eyesight and could look at the sunrise?

On that same drive in to work, I could get upset about the sounds of the rush hour traffic, the roar of the engine noise and horns being honked by the impatient drivers. Or, I can be happy that I can listen to my favorite radio station and the pleasant music. There are thousands of people what would love to have your sense of hearing instead of their world without sound.

It is a decision that is made on a daily basis to experience gratitude and be happy about life. As you make the decision to be grateful about the little things, your life will start to improve. You will begin to see that life is good. As your thoughts begin to focus on the good things of life, more good things will come into your life.

The law of Karma states that what we put out into the world (our thoughts) will come back to us.

So, for my money, I choose to concentrate on the things for which I am grateful. These are the things that I want to expand in my life.