Attitude of Gratitude - 1

The past two weeks have been filled with occasions that have led me to this quotation by Brian Tracy. One of those was the recent 37th Anniversary Celebration of my covenant community, Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon. It was, as the men, women and children of Ligaya were reminded, a great opportunity to experience the gift of grateful hearts. To be grateful for the gift of community, the gift of brothers and sisters who share the same vision and mission of bringing more men and women into personal, growing and thriving relationships with our Lord. To be grateful for the gift of community, recognizing lessons learned through the pains and victories experienced throughout our being part of Ligaya. To be grateful for the gift of pastoral care and service and for the opportunity to serve brothers and sisters in many different ways as the Lord provides such opportunities to be used by Him. 

Another occasion to experience devout thanksgiving, as Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it in his quotation, was a send off cum birthday celebration for a brother in Christ, Harold Camonias, who is pursuing his call to priesthood in Australia. He was here for a short visit and he actually went back to Australia yesterday afternoon. It was the first time in a long while that a lot of the brothers and sisters (who served with Harold in Lingkod Greenhills before he pursued his call to priesthood) got together (with some bringing their kids along). It was truly a great time of catching up and renewing ties with old friends. We were actually pointing out jokingly that only Harold had the powers to bring together so many old friends who have difficulty getting together on that large a scale even if all of us live here in Manila (albeit different parts from North to South to East to West). Truly, it was a blessing to have come together for that one rainy afternoon and just allowed friendships to be rekindled! And so, the next time Harold comes back for a visit, which will be around two years from now, it will most likely be a reunion cum children's party on the side. :-D

There will definitely be more occasions to be take on that attitude of gratitude and devout thanksgiving and, through those experiences, stories of grateful hearts will continue to be shared here. I am truly grateful to the Lord for providing me this avenue for such stories!