Good Monday and Happy Veterans Day!

“Okay,” you say, “‘Good’ and ‘Monday’ should never appear together in the same sentence.” Point taken. But hang on a minute. It gets better. Promise.

Writing about “good” on a gray, gloomy Monday isn’t an “oops.”  It may seem like an “Oops.” But it’s not. No. Really. It’s intentional. Let me explain.

Thankful Threes

This week we’re kicking off three weeks of Intentional Thanks on the blog, Facebook, and Twitter. (You can jump in anywhere.) As we run up to Thanksgiving Day on November 28, I’m calling it “Thankful Threes” or “Thankful Thursdays.”

Here’s how it works:

Every Thursday between now and Thanksgiving, take just three minutes to stop what you’re doing, pause, and focus on thanks. Not every day may classify as a “good” day, but if you work at it, just about every day contains some reason to be intentionally thankful.  Why intentional? Well, have you noticed how easy it to go through an entire day, week, month, year or longer and not be thankful – unless you work at it, with intent? Be purposeful. Deliberate. Engaged. Focus on thanks for just three minutes every Thursday.

Like…

This doesn’t have to big something huge, ginormous or mystical, like solving the riddle of the Sphinx or Quantum Physics. (Is anyone really thankful for Quantum Physics?!) Start small. Were you able to get out of bed today and remain vertical? Be thankful! Was their food in the fridge? Heat? A roof over your head and gas in your vehicle? Be thankful! Did you discover a new author, enjoy a sunset, connect with a friend, or down a luscious slice of raspberry white chocolate cheesecake? Give thanks!

What about being thankful for your spouse, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, sibling(s)? Is there a teacher, coach, co-worker, neighbor or mentor who touched your life in a special way? Take three and be thankful! Tell God about it. Be specific. What about waterfalls, Puccini arias, lavender, libraries, puppies, running water?

Give thanks. Make it intentional. Make it contagious.

Example: Today I’m thankful for hot water. No. Really. Just think of all the stuff you do every day that requires hot water. Now think of what it would be like to do the same things with cold water. Get the idea?

Like I said, I decided to be intentionally thankful for hot water awhile back. This was after a day-long traipse on the trails through ankle-deep mud, scrambling over moss-slicked logs, brush, bramble, and face-planting in some choice Okeefenokee real estate after tripping over a tree root buried in… you guessed it… thick, black mud. Good thing my fall was cushioned by a granite boulder, or I may have been hurt.

Anyway, I came home from that delightful adventure looking like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I felt like the Creature from the … Well.  took a good long soak in a hot tub – about a month or so – to return to some semblance of human.

Moral of the story: THANK GOD FOR HOT WATER!

It’s Thursdays Threes. Time to practice being intentionally thankful for every whisper of grace: big, small, and in between.

That’s right. You got this.  Now make it a habit. Daily. You don’t even have to wait till Thursday.

 What are you intentionally thankful for today?