Cultivating Thankfulness

Okay… let’s play a little game!  See if you can name 10 things that you are thankful for in the midst of all the crazy upheaval that is going on in our lives due to the Corona pandemic.  Okay… Okay… let’s make it 5!  I’ll start.  Let’s see… First, I am thankful that I live right next to a beautiful golf course.  I think that I figured out why the Lord selected this location for us.  I realized this morning while walking Fiver next to the perimeter paths (on the other side of the wire fence) that the golfer’s walk or ride around the course, that I get to interact with the golfers on a daily basis!  Being as it is just the dog and I at home, I relish every opportunity that I have to talk to another person!

I also enjoy the serenity of the greens.  I couldn’t help but pause on the driveway today, in the quiet of the early morning, when taking the garbage bags out to the curb, and enjoy the beauty that was before my eyes!  I’m also thinking about starting a side business selling used golf balls, as my collection of lost white, orange and yellow balls is growing almost daily!  I’ve even found them on my front lawn… and I have NO idea how they got there since it is in the totally opposite direction in which the course is supposed to be played.  I have learned however, to be careful of the lefties when walking by the vicinity of one particular hole.  We’ve had some balls slice right toward us and land at our feet on more than one occasion!

Secondly, I am thankful that I am still healthy and strong and able to take Fiver for walks in our beautiful neighborhood multiple times a day.  Thirdly, I am very thankful that our kids are all staying healthy and still working throughout this pandemic.  Fourthly, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying working around my yards at my lovely new home, planting new flowers and vegetables as well as planning the new landscaping that I am dreaming about for the backyard.  

And Fifth… and by far not the least, I am thankful for the Lord and the truth of His Word that I so vivaciously align my life with, for I know that I know that  “When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High, our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm. How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us?” And of His faithfulness to us when He tells us that “I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will find and feel my presence even in your time of pressure and trouble. I will be your glorious hero and give you a feast.”  (Psalm 91:9,10,15 – The Passion Translation) 

I had another one of those “Hummmm…” moments of lost thought this morning as I studied the part about the Lord being our “glorious hero.”  For with a tear in my eye, I thought about my adult-life-long desire to be Piper’s hero.  I have thought about that a lot since her passing and may have even mentioned it before in my blog posts.  Normally when I think about this idea, it is usually followed by that small-still-voice inside of me that reminds me that I did put aside everything in life to care for her 24/7 during the last eight years of her life… so, in that sense, I guess that I was a hero of sorts to her… although to me, it was just me doing my job as her husband (driven by my intense love for her) that I signed up for when we confessed our wedding vows to each other back on that beautiful day in July of 1975.

I watched one of those military homecoming videos on my phone last night and couldn’t help but to cry when the fiancé of the returning solder ran across the college football stadium, where the surprise event was taking place at half-time, and literally jumped into his arms and cried hysterically!  (Geez… I’m crying now as I write this!)  I guess deep inside, I was wishing that I was that guy and Piper was the gal jumping into my arms… Maybe something will happen like that when I cross the veil and see her again in heaven… that would be kinda cool… don’t you think!

Okay… those are my five things and now IT IS YOUR TURN!  Tell me five things that you are thankful for in the midst of this pandemic.  Let’s see how many of you leave a comment on my actual blog page at http://pjberruto.blogspot.com/ or leave a comment on Facebook or send me an email at jimberruto@att.net.

I believe that your stories of thankfulness can and will be a great blessing to all of us… especially right now when most of us could use a good word or two!  Have a great week and remember the Apostle Paul’s advice to us when he wrote: “Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness.”