I am grateful for the person who thought to dip pretzels into melted almond bark. I could seriously get addicted.

I am grateful for junior high kids who have the ability to talk to adults and carry on a real conversation. It’s even better when they initiate conversation but oh, so rare these days.

I am grateful for high school students who know how to speak on the phone and leave detailed voicemail messages that are very courteous. Fabien is a master, and I’m impressed.

I am grateful for the sense to keep personal things personal. And I am grateful for adults who also have that sense. Why has this always been an issue for me? What is it about adults who cannot keep their personal hygiene information to themselves? Why do they feel the need or desire to share with others these things that are not necessary to know? I am grateful that I have a filter on my mouth and keep some things to myself.

And on that note, I am constantly flabbergasted (I use this word in honor of my mother) to work in this beautiful, upscale office building and witness seemingly normal, professional women who do not wash their hands properly – you know, actually using soap and spending more than two seconds under the stream of water to wash away germs. I walk out of that bathroom and am slightly disgusted, but I am also so grateful that there is a sink with running water and a full dispenser of soap at my fingertips so that I can have clean hands.

That was a grateful with a bite to it. Hmmmm. But I am grateful for soap and water to wash my hands – I remember the little bathroom at the church in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, that had little to no running water and we had to sparingly use bottled water to wash our faces and hands after working in the hot sun all day. I take for granted this luxury of indoor plumbing and liquid soap…

I have not been able to get Adam’s message out of my mind this week.  If you ever want to listen to his message about “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” here is the audio link:

Peace: How Christmas Changed the Grinch

I am grateful for this devotion from church today, that goes along with his message.

12.12.13 – Jesus taught how to tame the Grinch in ourselves

Daily Scripture: Luke 6:27-36

²⁷ “But I say to you who are willing to hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other one as well. If someone takes your coat, don’t withhold your shirt either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks and don’t demand your things back from those who take them. ³¹ Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you.

³² “If you love those who love you, why should you be commended? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, why should you be commended? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ If you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, why should you be commended? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be paid back in full. ³⁵ Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. If you do, you will have a great reward. You will be acting the way children of the Most High act, for he is kind to ungrateful and wicked people. ³⁶ Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.

Reflection Questions:

Is this passage even about Christmas? Yes—if we understand that it’s about the heavenly purpose for Christmas, which was to open before us a whole different way of living. Jesus taught his followers how to live with his peace and joy. As the Whos’ sang in the Dr. Seuss story, “Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp… Welcome, Christmas, while we stand heart to heart, and hand in hand.”

• Jesus gave examples, not to create a new set of onerous rules, but to show the spirit in which he calls us to live. As The Message puts it, “If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” When has someone touched your life for the better by living generously? When have you found the joy of living generously toward someone else?
• Luke linked the Golden Rule (“Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you”—verse 31) to Jesus’ words about how to treat enemies. In what relationships do you find it hardest for you to treat others as you’d wish to be treated? How can Jesus’ teaching help you discern how to live out the Golden Rule in ways that bless others while you maintain healthy boundaries and self-care?

Today’s Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I know how fear can work in me, can make me see other people as enemies. Grow in me a generous spirit, one that sees all people as you see them. Amen.

I am grateful for these lessons and the lessons I have learned from the book, “Love Does.” I am grateful for the resources to fill a grocery bag for a family in need and two bags full of Christmas gifts for a little boy and a little girl. I am grateful for the confidence to now offer kind words to strangers, just because. I am grateful to be able to pay it forward, to do random acts of love. I am grateful that I am learning the lesson of giving and grateful that I have such wonderful examples and mentors in my life.

And finally, today is my granddaughter’s fourth birthday. Anissa Beth is a sparkplug and she lights up a room with her beauty and her infectious fun energy. When I went to visit the family last November, I was allowed to take Anissa with me on Saturday morning to run an errand. She sat in the vehicle telling me story after story after story, and although I couldn’t always understand what she was insistent that I know, I loved every word she spoke. We sang lots of silly songs on that little trip to Dallas…

I am grateful for memories of:

• her unique way of running, pumping one arm, bent at the elbow
• watching her “mother” her doll
• enjoying her dance moves while she watched tv
• feeling her soft curls that were always adorned with bows
• her tiny little gold glitter shoes
• the way she was so proud of having painted toenails and fingernails
• listening to her sing at the top of her lungs in the back of the van
• hearing her sing “Jesus Loves Me” so sweetly and perfectly at Mom’s memorial service
• her big squeeze hugs
• those eyes that sparkle
• the way she loved to cuddle
• sitting in the playground area at the mall or at Chick-Fil-A, watching Anissa follow the “big girls” and make new friends

Happy birthday, Anissa Beth. I love you to the moon and back and miss you even more.