Do you ever have one of those mornings? You know- the ones that make you want to scream and then go back to sleep so you can restart the day?
This past Monday was one of those mornings for me.
I traveled out of town during the weekend to visit a friend. We had lots of fun, but when I got back into town on Sunday afternoon, I was exhausted! And this exhaustion carried over into Monday morning.
Plus, I think I was ready for it to be Thanksgiving break.
In short, it was hard for me to get up on Monday. I laid in bed a little longer than I should have and then hurried to get ready for school on time. Somehow I left my apartment only two minutes later than I normally do. I figured if I accelerated quickly I’d just be a smidgen late to work.
But then the dreaded stoplight was red.
I only live 7ish minutes from my school. Potentially five if the one light is green.
This light is at a T intersection and the road from my apartment dead-ends onto it. I have no clue what sort of timer this light is set up with or if it is programmed to change based upon weight or whatnot. But it is always green for the cars driving straight through and always red for the people who dead-end at the light and need to turn.
I have to turn left to get to work so I usually add an extra minute or so to my drive-time to account for the light.
On this Monday morning, however, the light was the worst it has ever been.
When I pulled out of my apartment complex, I saw that the light was red with two cars already stopped at it. “Perfect,” I thought, “The light will turn green by the time I get there.”
Except it didn’t. And I sat waiting for FIVE MINUTES for the light to turn green. I kid you not, I was watching the clock. A full five minutes ticked by with no green light insight.
Finally, I glanced behind me, got in the right lane, turned right, found another apartment complex to turn into so I could U-turn, turned onto the road I needed to be on, drove through the light that was now green for me but still red for the other cars, and made it to work 8 minutes late.
Oh, and the principal was standing down the hall when I walked in, so she knew I was late.
All in all, it was a great start to my Monday morning. #Sarcasm.
I only had 20 minutes to breathe and get ready for my first-period class. Usually, I start my classes off with a daily warmup activity which changes based upon the day of the week. But this day, I decided to throw our traditional Monday-class-starter out the window.
When my sophomores entered my classroom, I told them to make a circle around my room. I joined them in the circle and I confessed, “I don’t know about you, but today’s already been a hectic Monday for me. So, today we’re going to go around in a circle and say something we’re thankful for. But you can’t say something that someone else has already stated, so you have to pay attention.”
I just planned to do this activity with my first-period class. But it turned out to be so refreshing that I repeated the activity for every single one of my classes that day. And on Tuesday. And on Wednesday.
Starting my classes with gratitude reminded me just how important thanksgiving is.
It isn’t just a holiday where we eat turkey. It should be a daily part of our lives.
My 6th grade Bible class is currently memorizing Psalm 105. The first bit of this chapter starts off by saying,
“O give thanks to the LORD; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him; sing praises to Him; tell of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!”
-Psalm 105:1-3 (ESV)
This is my challenge for you this Thanksgiving:
- Give thanks to God. Daily. Not just on Thanksgiving Day.
- Pray to God. Include Him in your life.
- Make God known to those around you and proclaim what He has done.
- Worship God.
- Share with others what God is doing in your life.
- Be glad that you belong to God and are a part of His family.
- Seek God and rejoice!
Please join me in remembering that thanksgiving is a lifestyle, not just a holiday.
Starting my day with gratitude last week really helped me have a calm perspective during the pre-break-craziness. I want to incorporate gratitude into my morning routine and I hope you do too!
And to all my U.S. friends- I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving this week.
