Something about me changed when I started making an effort to be more grateful. It didn’t happen overnight. It happened over the course of years. But it started with a conscious effort to name the many things I’m grateful for.
We have a habit of listing the things we are grateful for each day during bedtime prayers with our children. There’s a round of thanking Jesus by each of us. One kid repeats a boilerplate list of family members’ name and animals, specifically puppies. One is grateful for “getting through the day.” Another makes an exhaustive list of every detail (and is sometimes encouraged to take some of that list to private prayer). One takes it as an occasional opportunity to grumble–but, hey, we’re to be grateful for those things too, according to Saint Paul.
“In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
1Thessalonians 5:18
That’s where it started, I think. Then I started challenging myself while showering or lying in bed to list at least ten things I was grateful for each day. Sometimes I did – and do – up the list to twenty. Or more. Guess what? I never lack for things to be grateful for. Never.
Somewhere during this time I also began praying the Litany of Humility, learning that humility and gratitude go hand in hand. When I recognize that I am priceless in the eyes of God yet nothing without Him (humility), I am more grateful for all of the blessings He showers me with day in and day out.
This grateful humility spurred a greater dependency on God. Enter the Litany of Trust. And increased trust? That prompts me to go more frequently to God with my petitions, big and small.
Since working in our parish school cafeteria, I’ve witnessed the results of these trusting petitions. For example, the miracle of the chocolate milk. One day, the chocolate milk supply (hands down the children’s favorite over white milk), ran low. So low that when I counted the cartons against the students buying lunch, I knew there wasn’t enough. Sure, some kids drink water or take white milk, but most want the chocolate.
At this point in the school year, I’d already seen a few loaves and fishes (or chicken nuggets and French fries) miracles. We’d been blessed. But this milk supply? It was too big a stretch. There simply wouldn’t be enough. I braced myself for disappointed kids slouching away from the lunch line with dreaded white milk.
But I hadn’t needed to worry. My desperate plea of please, let it be enough, was heard. Not only was there enough chocolate milk that day, but there was some left over.
Is the chocolate milk supply a trivial matter? Yes. Could I explain away how x amount of students chose white milk or water that day for some reason? Probably. Do I believe I just got lucky? Absolutely not.
Has God suddenly become good? Well, that’s silly. He’s always been good. But do I go to Him more often now, more trustful, more dependent, and more grateful? Because of my gratitude, I’m more apt to recognize His goodness in favors He bestows on me.
One of the greatest gifts of being grateful is been having my eyes opened wider to God’s goodness. In small ways. Large ways. Seemingly insignificant ways. Ways that demonstrate how generous God is with His love and how He wants to lavish us with good things – however small, if they are in accord with His will.
Gratitude, humility, and trust. For me, one led to the other, and I’ve discovered a beautiful prayer where they intersect.
It’s the Chaplet of Gratitude and Surrender, which I participate in as often as I can on Thursday mornings at 8:00 a.m. EDT (New York) via the Clubhouse App. Hosted by Erin McCole Cupp, Emily Jaminet, and Deanna Bartalini, this weekly prayer meeting is part of the Catholic Women Room on Clubhouse.
A little about Clubhouse:
When I first saw invitations for yet another social media app, my first reaction was a hard no. Another app? More social media? No, thank you.
But Clubhouse is different. First, it’s not a time-waster for me. There are no posts, no temptation to spend idle minutes scrolling. I’m on, I’m off. I’m there for a scheduled purpose.
Second, it offers live interaction via voice. No post and run. It’s more like a conference call via app. And hearing human voices in real time builds connection.
Third, there’s no video. The house can be a mess. I can be a mess. In fact, most mornings, I participate in my nightgown. It’s okay.
If you’re hesitant about Clubhouse, don’t be.
If you’re a Catholic woman, would you consider joining us in the Catholic Women Room for the Chaplet of Surrender & Gratitude? Bring a rosary or your ten fingers. You only need to know a few basic Catholic prayers that you can likely already recite. You can pray aloud or you can listen and pray silently. No pressure. (If you’re on Instagram, save this post and follow along.)
"Gratitude, humility, and trust. For me, one led to the other, and I've discovered a beautiful prayer where they intersect." An Attitude of Gratitude and the Miracle of the Chocolate Milk #Gratitude Share on XI’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one other addition to my spiritual life that took place at the same time I began consciously choosing gratitude. My parish began offering the opportunity for Eucharistic Adoration which I avail myself of weekly. No doubt this time before the Eucharist (literally, “thanksgiving”) has something to do with the gratitude-humility-trust snowball that’s been gathering.
I’m not saying I don’t still lack humility, take God’s goodness for granted, or fail to trust in Him. I suspect I’ll still struggle with those things as I take my dying breath. But, I see evidence of growth, peace, and joy that I attribute to these practices.
Do you make a conscious effort to be grateful? If so, do you think it has changed you? How?
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