Deo Gratias

 
"If the only prayer you ever say in your life is thank you, it will be enough." - Meister Eckhart

Colleen, from her inspiring blog Thoughts on Grace, hosts this wonderful meme each Wednesday. She says, "Deo Gratias is Latin for Thanks be to God. Remembering to give thanks for all of our blessings, big & small, helps us to find God in our everyday moments and gives us an attitude of gratitude!"

Each week, I join Colleen in remembering & sharing the many blessings in my life. This is such a great exercise for me, helping me to focus on the good that truly is happening in my life, no matter how many trials & stresses I may have.

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1) Last Tues. & Wed., Matt & I went to Amish country while my parents kept the Blessings for us. We had a wonderful, relaxing, but short time & can't wait to return soon! Deo Gratias! 

2) Mothers' Day was nice & relaxing this year! Matt made me breakfast in bed (having to get up earlier than normal to have it ready before Mass), grilled steaks for dinner, & we topped off the evening sitting on the porch. Deo Gratias!

3) We took the Blessings to the movies on Friday. Matt took the older two to see Avengers: Age of Ultron & I took the younger two to see Home. It's not often we get to all go to the movies, but we found a local theater w/ great early-bird prices. Deo Gratias!

4) One of my co-workers lent us the movie, God's Not Dead. We had a family movie night & watched it on Friday. What a great movie that truly inspired all of us! Deo Gratias! 

5) This is a long one, but very special: I was brought to tears at work on Sat., witnessing a tender moment between a dementia-ridden, unable to speak mother & her son. As they sat in the lobby, he lovingly spoke w/ her & rubbed her knees & back. I looked up at one point & saw that he had pulled her to her feet. They swayed back & forth to music only the two of them could hear. It was only a minute or two before he sat her back down, but he continued to dance w/ her in her chair. 

Afterwards, you could hear her making noises as if she really wanted to say something. He came & asked me for a piece of paper to see if she could write what she wanted to say. I told him that they were making me cry. He gave me a sad smile & said, "I miss her!" Made me cry all over again.

I couldn't wait to get home & share this w/ my family, esp. after watching "God's Not Dead" last night. For those of you who have seen it, remember the scene w/ Dean Cain & his mother who has advanced dementia? His character is not very nice. In sharing my experience w/ the family, I told them that I wanted them to see another side of that scenario. Deo Gratias!