March 4

For Today's Forward Day by Day reading, Click Here.

It's at the tail end of yet another work day and I feel like I have seen and done nothing worth blogging about. Boring. Bo. Ring. I woke up in way-to-early-thirty after a two-dog night (burr! and yes, there were two dogs keeping us warm last night) to warm up and made it home in enough time to shower, manage the kids' a.m. lollygagging, take carpool and slide into my office by 8 a.m. — quitting time, as always, came quickly and it is no surprise at all that my day already is almost over now. Nothing exciting. Nothing to write the world about. Just, done.

Aren't days just a blur like that sometimes?

Today's reading talked a lot about how it feels when the days are anything but short and boring. In Jeremiah there's a lot of talk about how bummed they feel to be "cast out." The psalmist laments about whether the Lord's going to "cast me off forever." "How long will you be angry, Lord?" another asks. These days probably felt pretty dang long, lonely, and from the sounds of things the people boo-hooing about it saw no end in sight.

And still we're all called to weather the storm with the complete set and personal strengths in our tool bag— during our most mundane of days, and during the ones that seem interminable and dreadful. Maybe we use Patience. Maybe we clip into a little Self-Control or sling a little Kindness around somebody. And maybe, we dig down way deep to the dusty, gum-wrapper littered bottom of our bag and pull out the "Special Gift Included." Like any complete set, ours includes a little bonus feature. This little do-dad is so functional you can use it any time, any place and for any reason. In fact, we're supposed to use it — get this — in every circumstance. That's right, we're supposed to use this Bonus Gift every day, all the time in whatever situation. It's called Gratitude.

Gratitude comes with this instruction manual: It reads, "WARNING: 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Even when we feel like God's left us out to dry we should, that's right, be thankful. When our day has been so humdrum we want to indulge in a little Housewives of Beverly Hills for a little comparative therapy? Yup — it's time for a little Attitude of Gratitude.

Our Gratitude Bonus Tool looks like lip gloss. Maybe like this little blast from ye old past:

You have to keep applying it throughout the day if you want it to have avoid the parched, sucking on lemons, shriveling, Maloof Hoof lip look.

I just applied a thick coat of Gratitude and I already feel better. Thank you God for keeping everyone I love safe today. Thank you for giving me a job that I can manage and makes me happy. Thank you for my family who is well enough to eat my crock pot cooking. Thank you for the dogs who keep me warm at night. Thank you for making it possible for me to run in 30-degree weather. Thank you for peace this day when so many others can't find it.

What are you thankful for today?