blessed.

as i sit here in my warm house..as i hear the laughter of my sisters...as i smell mom's cooking in the kitchen...and as i sit and see the sun set out my windows..i think to myself..what a beautiful life i have been blessed with..i encourage you to remember that no matter how messed up this world of ours is there is always something to be grateful for..♥ this afternoon my mom and sisters and were sitting together in the living room. we had just finished up face-timing with my aunt and something came up about it feeling a bit out of our comfort zones to face-time. how it felt weird to be in communication with someone in our family but not be in the same room with them. i will choose not to go into details, but together we each took our turns being honest with one another. this honesty was uncomfortable. we vented with one another. sharing our hurts and our latest struggles. there was a very unsettling feeling as we began to one up one another. then my mother being the wise one that she is prompted us with the question, "and how can we make this better? how can we work to be respectful of one another and take time to listen to one another?" this prompted me to break down the walls of feeling like i had to be better than my sisters. i shared with my sister that no matter how mad or fake i may come across to her i am so proud to call her my sister. as i have watched her play this season of basketball. seeing her going from playing freshman basketball to playing at the varisty level all in one season has made me so entirely proud. as i look out during the national anthem during her games and looking one by one at each of the girls hand on their hearts and then seeing my sister hands behind her back. because as she personally believes that pledging allegiance to america is not something she feels called to do. wow. it takes someone very strong and special to make a choice like that. and in that moment when i shared that with her, tears running down both of our cheeks, the shame, the guilt, and the  hurt that we had just been experiencing and sharing seemed to instantly fade away. the respect and the love came instead.it amazes me how when we make the choice to look at the positive in each other how that can change us. for lent this year i have begun to keep a gratitude journal. each evening before bed i have taken time to record a couple things from the past day that i find myself grateful for. its been really helpful to look back on my day no matter how bad it may have seemed and to realize there were actually good things that happened as well. i realize how blessed i am and how at times i dont fully realize it. so now i encourage each one of you reading this to be sure to spend time with your family. i know for some family may be not a place where they are most comfortable but be sure to take time to be real, authentic, and genuine with those whom you do feel comfortable with. we all are struggling. dont be afraid to share with someone else because chances are they are in need to share as well. well these are my thoughts for now. peace and take care.