The White Shirt
Yesterday, I was grateful for a white shirt.
A men’s, white, long-sleeved, collared shirt to be more specific. School pictures are next week, and all the senior boys will be wearing a white, long-sleeved, collared shirt to school. Each will wait their turn for either Mr. Cook or Mr. Vogel to tie a black tie around their neck before the camera captures a fleeting Senior moment. Logan and I spent time together getting his white shirt last night.
With a senior in high school this year, I decided that each day should be seized, savored in some way. Numerous moms with wisdom to spare have prepared me for this year: “It goes by quickly! Enjoy it!” Time does go by quickly. How can I make the most of it? My answer: Be grateful.
So, a nightly gratitude journal was born. Specifically, one entry for each day of the school year. The small, polka-dot notebook sits on my nightstand. It will help me reflect on each day, and in particular, the gift of my senior. Who knows, it may even document or tell a story about emotions, relationships, highs and lows. I am guessing it will hold me accountable to an attitude of gratitude not just in the evening, but throughout more of the day. It may not be the graduation gift that Logan is hoping for (okay, it won’t be). However, the goodness of this gift is occurring right now, in real time. Each day. Gratitude for at least one interaction with Logan, one specific action or emotion, one thing that gushes love, one thing he does that pushes me, one way he makes me laugh, one more thing that he teaches me about cars, and more. The goodness of this gift may also occur later. When Logan finds these handwritten moments of gratitude for him packed away in a box, sometime down the road. Maybe, just maybe, future grandchildren of mine will read about their dad’s senior year of high school from the lens of their gray-haired grandma.
A coworker of mine recently said something profound about being grateful. Lizzy said, “When we offer thanksgiving for something, we are acknowledging to God that it is enough.” We don’t seek anymore. We are satisfied, pleased; settled in a way. That struck me, and hit me deep. If I am truly grateful, what more do I have to seek?
Yesterday, I was grateful for a white shirt. Today is Day 8. Out of how many days exactly, I do not know. I am trying to focus on today and not “the number of days until.”
Who will be the person that God has placed in your life that you pause to remember each evening before you drift off to sleep? Like a white, long-sleeved, collared shirt, being grateful never goes out of style.
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.
In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18