How we view the world changes when we take a moment to pause and soak in the sacred moments that make up our limited time on this earth. My very favorite poet Mary Oliver has this to say on truly being alive, “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

I believe our ability to practice gratitude is that simple.

We pay attention.

We allow ourselves to be astonished.

We tell someone about it.

By being present, and paying attention to each moment, we are actually cultivating a grateful heart.

We took a family trip to the coast recently and, as any of you who have travelled with small children know, it can be very stressful.

After five hours in the car, we finally made it to the beach. It was cold and somehow, it seemed like immediately, the kids were super filthy. I was hungry and busy thinking about all the things that needed to get done so that we could eat dinner and set up camp. I was beginning to wonder whether we were delusional for even thinking it was a good idea to take a 3 and 4 year old camping.

I caught myself in this very negative moment and was able to pause and just look around. What I saw was the beauty and power of the ocean, the pelicans flying overhead, my family together and happy, enjoying God’s creation.

All I needed to be grateful was to pause and pay attention to this glorious thing called life happening all around all the time. Gratitude means letting go of our expectations of perfection and embracing our reality. And my reality was that my family was playing and laughing and enjoying each other and I almost missed it because I was worried about dinner.

We need to leave space to be astonished.

I’ve been to the Texas coast many, many times in my life. And each time I go I try to carve out some alone time so that I can walk the beach and pick up shells.

In spite of having done this a hundred times or so, I see something astonishing each and every time. This weekend I was fortunate enough to see dozens of monarchs migrating. There was something so breathtaking about the beauty and frailty of a butterfly framed against the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. I’d walk a hundred feet or so and there would be another butterfly, and then a little crab would scuttle across the shore and it was such a simple scene and yet so miraculous.

In the chaos of everyday life it can be easy to overlook the beauty of nature, of our neighbors and our coworkers but if we can take time and allow ourselves to be astonished our hearts begin to be shaped and changed by the gratefulness we feel when we experience those special little every day moments that make life so full.

When we share what we are grateful for with others, we invite them into gratitude too.

One of my very favorite things to do with my kids is to sit down with them at the end of every day and to go over our “Roses and Thorns”.

It is a privilege each evening to hear about the hardest thing that happened to them that day (their thorns) and to share in their joy as they talk about the very best thing that happened to them (their rose). On our beach trip as I was tucking the kids into their sleeping bags, I asked them about their Roses and Thorns, I loved hearing that my daughter’s Rose was finding a pretty shell or that my son’s Rose was that he fell in the ocean in 60 degree weather. It was lovely to then share with them that my Rose was being with my family in one of my favorite places, a memory I will hold onto for a long time to come.

We do Roses in Thorns as a family so that my husband and I can know what our kids are struggling with and support them and we do it so that we end the day with happy and full hearts. Sharing in our gratitude with one another helps us to see someone else’s joy and allows us time to recognize our own joy.

We live in a culture that demands more and new and better and that sees little value in thankfulness. But, as we grow spiritually we recognize that gratitude is our hearts response to all the love we have been given by God. If we can spend just a little time each day being present, allowing ourselves room to be astonished and sharing with others in our joy we will find that gratitude is a constant invitation from God to recognize and reflect on his love.

I am grateful for a little trip to the beach with the ones I love most. It wasn’t a perfect trip, there were stressful moments and sand has infiltrated every square inch of my car and all of our clothes.

In the end though, I choose joy. I am grateful for all of it.

For Further Reflection on Grateful Living:

• What do you need to let go of so that you can be present to the things that bring you joy?
• When was the last time you marveled at a simple yet beautiful pleasure?
• Is there someone you could share in your “Roses and Thorns” with? How could reflecting on your day help you practice gratitude?