Posts from the ‘Thank You Thursday’ Category
Feb
2
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
Perhaps my favourite, or most meaningful ‘thank yous’ are offered up for the simple and small. Those little but concrete gifts life lays at my front door, ready to be discovered while I’m going about my business. These small, concrete things are apparently your favourite fuel for thanks too, if last weeks slew of Facebook responses to Thank You Thursday are any indication (thanks for sharing by the way).
So it’s four o’clock yesterday and I’m downtown, racing my way to the LRT station. But first, to the flower shop. It’s been a tough day for my wife and I want to get her something small and smile-inducing. I know she loves gerber daisies, and even though I don’t have much money to spend, I know they can usually be had for a few dollars a piecee; right in my budget. I know a single daisy isn’t much, but I’m banking on that whole ‘thought that counts’ thing.
Weaving between the hordes awaiting a bus home, I arrive at the Artworks, just outside City Centre mall downtown. I see the daisies outside, and then to my delight and surprise, a ‘SALE’ sign on them. 10 for $10. Now there is a deal. But there aren’t 10. Hmmm. Perhaps an even better deal is to be had? I inform the staff inside and a friendly woman tells me to choose as many as I like – $1 a piece. So, my $3 will now buy me not one, but three flowers. Things are looking up! I head out to the display pail (that doesn’t sound nearly as fancy as it looked) and select not 3, but 5. I’m going all out on this one, taking my newfound gift and growing it before giving it away.
The final product - a beautiful bouquet, had for a song.
I head back into the store, flowers in one hand while the other hand digs for the $20 bill in my pocket. And digs some more. Then, frantically, some more. There is no $20 bill. There are no bills at all. I switched pants in a rush this morning getting ready for a field trip. I transferred pockets, but not completely apparently. I forgot my $20. I realize all of this just steps away from the till. I sheepishly inform the woman as she takes my flowers and begins to wrap them. I feel so ashamed, the look on my face confessing, I am sure, ‘yes, I am not only too poor to buy a nice bouquet of flowers at full price, I’m also too poor to buy your flowers at a blowout price. Please pity me’. I find such pity. I explain that I will just have to buy as many as I can afford, which, after rifling through my several coat pockets, is roughly 2.5 flowers. I get a surprising reply.
This is where the thanks comes in.
The woman looks at me, considers my situation (I explain to her the ill-performed pants-pocket transfer of that morning), and decides to bestow mercy. ‘Just take them all’ she says, accepting my paltry sum. And so I leave the store with five flowers. I leave towards home, towards my waiting wife with five beautiful daisies I couldn’t really afford. It’s a beautiful little gift for her, given first to me, and I am thankful.
Now sure, as I jog towards my train, confused as to how I could have missed that $20 bill in the morning, and only that $20 bill, wondering if I actually dropped it somewhere, then digging down, down deeper in these pants with pockets much deeper than my usual pants (and much much deeper than the women’s jeans I sometimes wear - there, I said it) – sure I find the $20 bill then. And sure I turn a 180 and return to the flower store, offering to settle up, even more embarrassed. And sure I’m told not to worry about it, and then I add a bit of guilt to my embarrassment. Sure I know those flowers were headed for the garbage anyways at days end – not two hours away. Sure all of that really happens. But looking back today, none of it tarnishes the gift; the simple kindness I was shown in that store, reflecting the simple kindness I wanted to show my wife when I got home.
I’m looking right at those five little daisies this morning; three red, one orange and one white, and they are making me smile. They remind me that even in the midst of a crazy day, even when you don’t really have what you need to do what you’d like for someone, a little bit of effort can be multiplied by the kindness of others. I know it’s not always the case, but sometimes the world just conspires for the Good, and sometimes we get caught up in that. And I am thankful.
Emily Dickenson wrote that ‘hope is the thing with feathers’, but perhaps, today, hope is the thing with petals?
What are you thankful for?
It’s your turn. Grow some hope with me and think on one thing you can be thankful for – big or small. Share it in the comments below.
Tags: flowers, Hope, manMom, Thank You Thursday, thanks
Posted in Thank You Thursday | No Comments »
Jan
26
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
Many of you know that I have a not-so-secret alter-ego; manMom. When my wife went back to work a few years ago I embraced it full force, taking care of the kids, cooking meals, doing laundry and a hundred other little things. With the kids in school and me back at work this year, I’ve not shed my manMom role entirely (I’m still a part time manMom), but I’ve had to put some things aside, like volunteering for field trips and in-class help at school. Well, no more my friends. That particular manMom is coming out of retirement.
Even lugging around a massive stroller now brings fond memories for this manMom. Time heals all wounds.
For those who don’t know, I have resigned from my current job, and while I will be working again soon, I have a little bit of time off. It just so happens that this week both of my children came and asked me, with drooping puppy dog eyes, if I could join their class for a field trip or activity day in the next couple of weeks. And it just so happens that I was able to finally say YES. It feels good and I am thankful.
Next week I go to the Royal Alberta Museum to conduct experiments on rocks and minerals with my son’s grade 3 class. The week after that I visit my daughter’s class to help with a mural painting project, working alongside their Artist in Residence. Yeah, school really can be that awesome.
This all comes at a great time, as my kids and I have started a column for the Rat Creek Press about exploring Alberta Ave with, and through the eyes of, children. The column will premiere in the upcoming February issue, as we share our experiences at the Deep Freeze Festival fireworks display. It’s got me thinking about my manMom role more and more. It’s got me full of thanks for that role.
Overall, I’m thankful for the time I still have with my kids, as they get older and bigger each day. Not too long ago I could cram them both into the stroller pictured above. They don’t fit anymore. And soon they won’t fit other things, like car seats and perhaps even being tucked in every night. And soon I’ll lose at wrestling. The time of the manMom (at least the hands-on, fully involved version) is shockingly short, so I’m thankful for the adventures that make the most of that time. I’m thankful I’m still a manMom.
What are you thankful for?
It’s your turn. Grow some hope with me and think on one thing you can be thankful for – big or small. Share it in the comments below.
Tags: Hope, kids, manMom, parenting, Thank You Thursday, thanks
Posted in Thank You Thursday | No Comments »
Jan
19
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
We’re having company tonight. Probably.
My wife and I have begun a grand experiment called Friend Soup. Every Thursday night we invite friends for soup. We invite a lot more people than we can likely feed, and we ask them to bring something along. We invite them to cook with us, eat with us, clean with us and talk with us. We don’t ask for an RSVP and each evening knock at the door is a blessed surprise. Some of the friends know one another, some don’t.
It’s risky business, showing up with who-knows-who-else to eat who-knows-what. And yet, for one week so far anyways, we have a community that’s up the the challenge. Our first week brought two boiling pots of soup, a few bright red beets, 10 or so friends and just enough bread to go around. It also brought good, soul-feeding company.
Today, looking towards another evening of Friend Soup, I am thankful for that good company. I am thankful for a time when I can share the joys and pains of my day and hear the same from friends. I am thankful, simply, for community. In the midst of our current deep freeze, I’m more than a bit thankful for soup, too.
These Thursdays function a lot like soup, really. A lot of people from a lot of different contexts thrown together into a pot until their flavours meld with time and asking and telling, producing a brew to warm the soul. Too many too-similar people and you get a bland broth. The more complex the flavours, with care to integrate each well, the tastier. Now that’s good company. I’m thankful that I can look forward to that tonight and I’m thankful for the ideas of people like Danny Schweers and Josh Culling that inspired this adventure.
And now, it’s your turn
What are you thankful for this Thursday? What sort of company do you keep? Take five minutes and think and pray and wrestle to find the thing you are thankful for this week, and write it down below. We don’t need an essay (though you can feel free), just a word or a phrase does nicely. Let’s grow hope together.
What are you thankful for?
Tags: community, friends, Hope, hospitality, soup, Thank You Thursday, thanks
Posted in Thank You Thursday | No Comments »
Dec
22
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
Christmas is just a few days away, and it is on everyone’s mind. I’m feeling some of the excitement and wonder I had as a boy as I type this in front of our family’s tree, full of lights and ornaments and gifts my wife and I wrapped last night. We’re all done, and that’s one thing I can certainly give thanks for today. It has me thinking about this holy day, and about all of the reasons I should pause and say, ‘thank you’.
This year our Christmas message at church has been, ‘can you hear the baby cry?‘. It’s a powerful question to me, amidst all of the noise and claustrophobia that can come with Christmas. Can I still hear the baby crying in that dirty little animal stable? Can I still sense the wonder-full message of the Christ child all these miles and years away? The miracle is that yes, I can. The 2000 year old ripple has become a wave in my life. Truth be told, though, I’m not thinking of that baby this morning – at least not directly. I am thinking of all the ways that story incarnates in my life. I’m recounting all the ways the Word takes on flesh in my holiday time. I’m thinking of all of the gifts that flow from that Great Gift.
Come on, come on
ring those bells
2000 years old
there’s still stories to tell
This Christmas I am thankful for family. My own was family was broken, mended, then broken again and then mended again. It has all left me with a lot of Christmases to attend. This year that feels like a good thing, as we begin our celebrations tonight and roll on through the next few days. More food. More family. More fun. I am thankful for the gifts under our tree, that this year we were alble to get a few more than last year, and that my wife and I were able to buy something for each other, a ritual we’ve all but skipped some past years. It feels nice, having a bit more this year, to be able to give a bit more, too.
I’m thankful this Christmas for friends. We spent time with many of them at a Christmas party a couple of weeks back. We had a visit yesterday with friends who’ve moved away. We are blessed with so many great relationships.
I’m thankful for work this Christmas. I get a staff Christmas party next week, and that’s just one little way the blessing of a job manifests itself. It’s something I did not have last Christmas. All of my time ‘on’ makes these next few days ‘off’ even more blessed. And oh yes, I am very thankful for days off.
I’m thankful for the hope of change. I’m part of many groups and projects where there is opportunity to change our little corner of the world, be the Bleeding Heart Art Space or Urban Bridge Church or The New Eyes art and music projects or The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse or the Nina Haggerty Centre for The Arts. These things brush up against my life, pull me in and remind me that Christ, who was born into our world that starry night, never left. He lives on in the love of so many people right here and right now. I can hear the baby crying in the work of those trying to patch and mend and heal the brokenness in their (and my) community. The baby has grown up into a fine young man all around me. The Word has taken on flesh and this Christmas I am remind that He wears it so well.
It’s a powerful story, this old Christmas tale. I was reminded of the futility of trying to make a better story last night, attending my childrens “winter concert”. Not only is it no longer a Christmas concert, for what I can only imagine are political “socially conscious” reasons, it’s not even a holiday concert. It was barely a winter concert, all about believing in yourself and the answer to making the world a better place being found inside of you. Inside of me. Outside of this baby, miraculously, beyond all hope and reason, showing up in the middle of nowhere like concentrated lightning, there is a distinct lack of real hope. All we can muster is, “look within yourself”. Well this Christmas I’m not buying it. I’m looking out, and I’m looking up and I’m looking to the stars and remembering that one was brighter than all the rest and led the way, not to my own self-esteem, but to a stable without esteem. To a baby, crying.
Above all else this morning, I’m thankful for that baby.
And now, it’s your turn
What are you thankful for this Christmas? Can you hear the baby crying in your life? In what little ways has he made Himself know to you and yours? Take five minutes and think and pray and wrestle to find the thing you are thankful for this week, and write it down below. We don’t need an essay (though you can feel free), just a word or a phrase does nicely. Let’s grow hope together.
What are you thankful for?
Tags: Alberta Ave, arts on the ave, coffee, Hope, Thank You Thursday, thanks, The Carrot
Posted in Thank You Thursday | No Comments »
Dec
8
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
To anyone who reads this blog regularly, my involvement with, and transformation by, Alberta Avenue is no secret. The arts-based revitalization of this neighbourhood has radically changed the way I view community, location, relationships, art, ministry and even coffee. No recounting of the Alberta Avenue story can be complete without mentioning its focal point; The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse. I remember 5 years ago, sitting around with other Arts On The Ave members and dreaming up a space, much like I’ve been dreaming up a new arts space with some wonderful people these past couple of months. I had little to do with the starting of The Carrot, but rather got to see it happen mostly from the periphery. Opening night was packed, but the place lacked some polish. So many things were not in place. All of the volunteers were new. There was no paid manager. All of the furniture was donated. It’s a space that for so many reasons might not have worked. But the people there that night, spilling out onto the street, spoke of promise.
That promise has been fulfilled time and time again. Today I’m so thankful for The Carrot and the impact it has had on my community, my family, and my own life. I became a much better musician because of The Carrot, hosting open mic dozens of times by now (and in the early days having to fill a lot of extra time to pad out the night). I became a better listener because of The Carrot, as story after story continues to walk through the door. I became a barista at The Carrot, beginning my ongoing quest to master latte art, and fuelling my desire to drink better coffee at home.
iLoveArtists began because of a love for artists and community that blossomed at The Carrot. I’m thankful for the passion The Carrot places in the hearts of all who frequent it. It’s become a second home to so many of us, taking on the role of the bar in “Cheers”, a place ‘where everybody knows your name’. Just try and get some work done at The Carrot and you’ll know what I mean. But trying to get some work done is just what I’ll do today, anyways, because the Carrot has also taught me that efficiency is a misplaced idol in our lives. Each step of the journey may as important as its end.
It’s my day off from work and I’m volunteering at The Carrot. I’m serving espresso and teas from 10-1 and perhaps you’ll pop in for a conversation? Why would anyone volunteer on their day off? I’m there because I know it’s a good place for me to be. I know it’s a place where unplanned magic happens. It is so often ‘the right place at the right time’.
I’m thankful today that I’ll be at The Carrot in a couple of hours. I’m thankful that it waits there for me to visit. I’m thankful for Irene, who keeps it running. I’m thankful for Mat, whose done so much work getting the sound system going, for Chris who books the bands, for Lori who looks after the art, for Arthur and Christy and Arts on The Ave so many others for visioning the place and getting it running. I’m thankful for every person I’ll see there today, and I’m thankful for the chance encounter that is almost sure to happen. When you come to expect such things from a place, how can you help but grow your hope?
And now, it’s your turn
What is one space you can give thanks for today? A cafè, your living room, a creative haven? Take five minutes and think and pray and wrestle to find the thing you are thankful for this week, and write it down below. We don’t need an essay (though you can feel free), just a word or a phrase does nicely. Let’s grow hope together.
What are you thankful for?
Tags: Alberta Ave, arts on the ave, coffee, Hope, Thank You Thursday, thanks, The Carrot
Posted in Thank You Thursday | 2 Comments »
Dec
1
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
This week I’m thankful for another bit of the sacred small. I’m thankful for simple kindness. I particular, one act of kindness shown me yesterday, but also kindness in general, because the more I reflect on it this morning the more I see it and the more important it becomes.
Balloon, taken by Jack Von Bieker
I had no vehicle yesterday, so it made for a hectic schedule of getting my kids off to school and myself off to work (then doing that all in reverse later). I can be thankful for the weather first, hovering around zero and making the cold much more bearable on our half hour trek to school. I can be thankful that we made it there on time. But my thanks really comes from the moment I turned around, ready to run towards the LRT station and catch my own way to work, when I heard the words. “Hey, want a ride”? Another parent, one who drives right in my direction, was offering, and it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Not only did I get a ride in the right direction, he dropped me right at my office, allowing me to make it to work the same time as usual (I’d given up on this possibility). I was warm and I was on time and I enjoyed a nice conversation on the way. It was a little thing, perhaps, but it meant a lot.
Tomorrow, I help my mom move and I am thankful for the kind friends and family of hers who will help as well.
As I think about kindness I reflect on 1984, the terrifying Goerge Orwell novel I just finished last night. It’s depressing and not something I’d soon read again. Its world is bleak, but the more I think about why, it has less to do with big government, surveillance culture and Thought Police. The real terror is that the world of 1984 is a world without kindness. A world without love. A world, thus, without humanity.
I’m thankful today for the little bit of humanity, the shine of The Image, that bursts forth every time we offer or receive a ride. Every time we engage in simple kindness. It’s enough to put a little smile on my face today, and that’s enough to get me going again.
And now, it’s your turn
What is one simple kindness you could give thanks for today? A ride, a homemade cookie, a helpful recommendation? Take five minutes and think and pray and wrestle to find the thing you are thankful for this week, and write it down below. We don’t need an essay (though you can feel free), just a word or a phrase does nicely. Let’s grow hope together.
What are you thankful for?
Tags: coffee, Hope, sacred small, Thank You Thursday, thanks
Posted in Thank You Thursday | Comments Off
Nov
24
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
My thank you’s have been skewing towards the profound side of the spectrum these past few weeks, so I thought I’d bring balance with a Sacred Small thing. Sure, I’m still grateful for the big-picture stuff in my life, but sometimes its the little things that can put a big smile on your face. Like waking up to a good, strong cup of coffee.
For years I’ve wondered at and wanted one of those little aluminum coffee pots; the kind shaped like a hexagonal hourglass, shining silver with a black handle and ‘little teapot’ spout. The italian-made kind that could be used on a Vespa, if a Vespa had a stove burner. The one that sits on the stove and bubbles out one or two cups of jet black, gut strong java. This past weekend I indulged, trading in a gift card for just such a marvel.
I’m making a switch from drinking a lot of not-so-strong coffee in a morning to drinking just one sucker-punch espresso bullet. I think I got the bug in Rome last year. It’s concentrated pleasure (and less caffeine overall, methinks). I have to wait longer and there is no automatic timer. There is nothing automatic about this thing at all. The little pot I bought has been made almost identical since 1933 (thank for the facts, Wikipedia). Perhaps that anachronistic quality is what I love about it.
Whatever its charm is, it makes killer coffee. I’m just finishing one off as I type this, in fact. Its that coffee and that pot that I’m thankful for today, because a good life is made up a million good little things. Little things matter. God is in the details. The Sacred Small adds up, and I am thankful for that.
And now, it’s your turn
What is one good little thing you could give thanks for today? From warm winter socks to that remote car starter or new shaving lotion, there is a lot to choose from I’m sure. Take five minutes and think and pray and wrestle to find the thing you are thankful for this week, and write it down below. We don’t need an essay (though you can feel free), just a word or a phrase does nicely. Let’s grow hope together.
What are you thankful for?
Tags: coffee, Hope, sacred small, Thank You Thursday, thanks
Posted in Thank You Thursday | 12 Comments »
Nov
17
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
10th anniversary photo by TJ McLachlan
You may get sick of me talking about my wife, but I won’t, so I’m going to focus my thanks towards her for one more week. Why? Because tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. As of tomorrow, we’ll have been on this crazy marriage journey for 11 years.
It has been crazy at times. And it has been a journey. I have learned so much about myself, about my faults and strengths and character, and about how love works. I’ve learned how challenging times can make a couple stronger. I’ve learned how celebrating together is vital and life giving. So this weekend, we celebrate together.
We’re heading to Banff for some time away. Some peace and some quiet. Some wining and dining. And some (mostly window) shopping.
I am so thankful for all of this. I’m thankful that we could get the time off, together, on our actual anniversary. I’m thankful that Christie’s parents can watch the kids. I’m thankful that we can leave early. I’m thankful for a long drive on either end where we can decompress, listen to music, talk, and not talk. I’m thankful that we found a great deal on a great little bed and breakfast right in town. I’m thankful that we have some favourite spots to look forward to. I’m thankful for the scenery that will surround us. Most of all, I’m thankful for the company. My wife tells me that someone recently scoffed something like, “don’t tell my wife you get taken out for your anniversary”. I don’t get it. I get to spend an entire weekend with my best friend. A friend I’ve been married to for 11 years and with for almost 15. A friend I’ve grown to love more and more each year. Where’s the downside in that?
There’s one more thing I’m thankful for with all this. I’ve been recording a song called Falling with my friend Tim LaRiviere these past weeks and I’m very proud of it. It may be the most personal song I’ve ever written, as it tells the story of my parents’ marriage falling apart. Their journey was a troubled one, as my mom suffers from mental illness that put great strain on their relationship. What I realized today is that I will surpass their years of marriage very soon (and with no signs of an impending end). Somehow I am beating the odds here. I am not bound to repeat the broken family I grew up with. I’m very, very thankful for whatever grace has enabled that to be true. I’m thankful for the pain that my kids, my wife and I are avoiding every day we stay together. What a great reason to celebrate this weekend!
And now, it’s your turn
Perhaps you have something to celebrate today? Perhaps you can give thanks for something else? Take five minutes and think and pray and wrestle to find the thing you are thankful for this week, and write it down below. We don’t need an essay (though you can feel free), just a word or a phrase does nicely. Let’s grow hope together.
What are you thankful for?
Tags: anniversary, Hope, Love, manMom, marriage, Thank You Thursday, thanks
Posted in Thank You Thursday | 1 Comment »
Nov
10
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
photo by TJ McLachlan
Routine and ritual can be beautiful things. They can be life-draining things, boring things or oppressive things, sure. But when routine and ritual keep you at what matters most – when they keep you doing what you should – they are beautiful things. Life giving things. Gifts.
Today I am thankful that I have a hot date tonight. It’s been almost 11 years of marriage, and almost 15 years together, and I can still say that my wife and I have dates. And not just dates, but hot dates. Dates I still wake up excited about. My wife and I can still say this because somewhere along the line we heard someone say that we should make dates a ritual and guard them fiercely. For whatever reason (there have been plenty of disciplines I have not kept), we decided to listen to that bit of advice. Even if all we could afford was a night playing cards together at home, we’ve had a date pretty much every week we’ve been married. Most of the time, we’ve gone out together at least twice a month. I’m so glad.
I could never count the amount of dinners and movies and river valley walks and mall walks (it gets cold here, you know), art gallery trips, strolls through IKEA, coffee shop sit downs, bakery runs, short hotel getaways and whatever else we’ve done. Still, pretty much every time I’m excited. I’m excited because I get to go somewhere and get some peace, away from the constant background noise of life with children. For that, I could just as easily go somewhere alone. But it’s more than that. I get to sit across a table from my best friend, listen to her stories, tell her mine, make plans together, dream big dreams, deal with frustrations and disappointments and generally work out this whole love thing.
I get to do that all over again tonight.
I’m thankful for the discipline involved in this. We’ve had to work for our date nights. As parents of small children, date nights mean arranging a baby sitter, often paying for that AND whatever else we have to do. It’s a costly, time-consuming business, but we’ve made the sacrifice for date nights. It’s so worth it. I’m thankful for the baby sitters among family and friends who give their time freely to help us out. I’m thankful for the favourite haunts that have made so many of these nights out so special (I’m looking at you DaDeO). I’m thankful that our kids get to watch their mom and dad in love, even if that starts to weird them out soon, while so many other kids have to watch that love fall apart. It’s the little things that make that difference, I think. Like date night.
And now, it’s your turn
Perhaps you can make a little list of what you’re thankful for in your relationships, too? Perhaps you can give thanks for something else? Take five minutes and think and pray and wrestle to find the thing you are thankful for this week, and write it down below. We don’t need an essay (though you can feel free), just a word or a phrase does nicely. Let’s grow hope together.
What are you thankful for?
Tags: date night, Hope, Love, manMom, marriage, Thank You Thursday, thanks
Posted in Thank You Thursday | Comments Off
Nov
3
Welcome to the project. The idea is to find one thing, small as it may be, to give thanks for each Thursday. Through this project I’ve found thankfulness is one of the best ways to grow hope. I hope you’ll grow some with me.
Exiting the underground train station, heading out towards work.
Yesterday I was asked a question. It’s a question that is becoming common – a new entry into the smalltalk database. But it is also a question I was never asked over the last few years. It was a bit of smalltalk I was missing out on. My neighbour asked, but I’ve been asked by friends and family and near strangers, too.
“How was work?”
The question is becoming so common that I’ve already formulated stock answers. It is becoming the new “how are you?” We all answer “good” without thought. It is our common call and response. Yesterday, I gave it some thought. Yesterday, for reasons having more to do with my mood than anything else, work felt like, well, work. It was not bad, but not “good” either. And so that is what I said. Some days are great, I said, and some days are work. But I haven’t had any really bad days.
And that is true.
Coming up to a couple of months at my new job I have to say, overall, I’m really enjoying it. I feel so blessed to be back at work at any job at all. There are so many blessings I can name that bloom from this basic part of life; working. It’s not that I was lazy when I was not working. I worked plenty. But this basic rhythm – waking up on time, arranging details to get through downtown traffic and into my chair on time, doing what is expected of me while I’m there (and hopefully a bit more), and receiving thanks in the form of a regular pay check – this basic rhythm is still not taken for granted. And I am thankful for it.
It’s my day off today, and I’m certainly thankful for that. But I am plenty thankful that tomorrow I have to wake up again, get a lunch packed, dress a little warmer, gather some bus tickets for the train and sit in front of a computer trying to solve some problems and help some people. Even if work is not awesome tomorrow, but merely work, I am thankful.
Here are some basic reasons why I’m thankful for my job. I get to go downtown four times a week minimum. I love downtown. Urban life runs through my veins. I get to ride my bike more. I get to walk more. I get to take the train more. I get to learn a lot about printing, and building websites and working with artists and marketing. I get to help people tell their story. I get to help people communicate clearly and with conviction. I get to work with artists. I get to use skills that I’ve been developing for the last several years. I’m making new friends. I get a fancy business card. I get to take photos. I get to help clients. I get to chat with a great building manager who makes it a point to know everyone’s name. I get to drink tea. Or coffee. Or both. I get snacks and lunches packed with love from my wife. I get to bring homemade cookies to the office. I get a lunch break to sit and read.
I kind of like making that list. I think I could go on. But it’s your turn now.
And now, it’s your turn
Perhaps you can make a little list of what you’re thankful for about your job, too? Perhaps you can give thanks for something else? Take five minutes and think and pray and wrestle to find the thing you are thankful for this week, and write it down below. We don’t need an essay (though you can feel free), just a word or a phrase does nicely. Let’s grow hope together.
What are you thankful for?
Tags: Bible, Hope, manMom, scripture, Thank You Thursday, thanks, transcendence, truth
Posted in Thank You Thursday | 1 Comment »
