Gratefulness Leads to Great Fullness

This past week the floods came.  My boys and I were at their swim lessons when my wife called to tell me that we should hit the road (or what was left of it) as soon as possible, and that she was worried about the difficulty we were likely to experience in getting home; she texted a picture of the water rising in front of our house.  I wasn’t concerned yet.  My boys love to play in muddy puddles.  Our collective thought was that the muddy puddles were abundant, which was exciting.  I soon realized that these were not the types of muddy puddles that were for playing in.  As we drove on, my excitement diminished.

From the back of the car I could hear the boys shouting, “This is awesome!”  They were truly overjoyed.  My concern grew as I watched people abandoning cars that were all but floating in the streets, which had become rivers.  We would have to make it down some of those rivers if we were going to end up in our driveway.  At one point, when I decided to turn into the neighborhood on what looked liked a relatively mildly flooded street, we encountered a woman waving her arms and shouting, “Turn back!”  We didn’t.  Thankfully we made it home.  And there it is…the key word – “thankfully.”

I’ve been reminded of a valuable lesson from many of those affected by this storm.  At the moment, almost all of the front lawns in my city are almost completely covered by the sewage-drenched contents of almost all of the basements.  It’s quite a sight.  Still, so many people have been telling me that they’re just fine.  They’re telling me how grateful they are that no one was injured.  They’re talking about how fortunate they are to have resources to restore and renovate the spaces that were destroyed, and that “stuff” is just “stuff.”  They seem to have maintained fullness in their lives, even through what truly was a catastrophic event for most.  They’ve categorized it simply as “something that happened,” and they’ve somehow placed it outside of the rest of what’s happening…the wonderful things.  They’re continuing to live with joy, expressing gratitude for the blessings they have, and they’re smiling as they do what needs to be done.

I’m grateful to be reminded that gratefulness leads to great fullness.  I’m strengthened by the amazing fortitude of my family, my friends, and my neighbors.  I’m amazed by my incredible wife, who (in the past week) has organized a community of volunteers as they’ve delivered care packages to dozens of homes and facilitated the collection/distribution of thousands of dollars in flood relief funds (I’m slightly proud too).

I will not waste this wonderful opportunity to learn and grow, and I will focus even more intently on the wonderful blessings in my life…even, and especially through the challenges I face.  I will work ever harder to define my life in positive and joyful ways through gratitude, and I will focus on expressing that in my words and actions so that those I serve might be influenced to that end as well.  And when I get it wrong…I’ll try again.

Live.  Learn.  Lead.

Dream Big.  Work Hard.  Be Well.