Counting My Blessings (11/08/2025)

Today I get to do laundry! And as I sort through the clothes, treat the stains, start the loads, transfer them to the dryer, hang and fold the different dry pieces, I use the time to practice gratitude.

It’s not just because it’s November – the month of thanksgiving. I do it all the time. As I work, I find cause for thanksgiving, cause for gratitude. I give thanks that I have a home with a modern washer and that I’m not looking for a stream with a rock on this cold and cloudy day. I give thanks that I have the means to purchase a washing machine and dryer as well as the multiple items I will wash. I give thanks for my life and the moments I lived in and with the items I will wash. I give thanks for my husband’s life and the joy he brings to me, and I laugh with love and gratitude as I remember a moment from the day he was wearing the sweatshirt I need to treat for a stain.

A wise woman once told me as I complained about having to make my bed that I was looking at things the wrong way. When I questioned what she meant, she explained that I had missed the blessings that surrounded me like the facts that I had a bed, a room, a home, warmth, a family. She taught me more than how to make a bed without the grumps. She taught me how important gratitude is on our journey.

And I have tried to take her advice with me to other venues, to other chores, to other responsibilities. I do it when I shop for groceries. I do it when I cook our meals. I do it when I clear the dishes. I do it, as you know, when I do the laundry. I do it when I do service for the parish or community. And with gratitude, I find joy in my tasks and a recognition of the goodness of others.

As we continue our journeys of faith, buoyed by our hope in the LORD’s promise that He is with us always, and fueled by the love of the LORD and love for and from others, let us be people of gratitude like the one leper who returned to Christ upon recognizing that he had been healed. Let us see the goodness in the world that we are asked to participate in this day. Let us give thanks for the small as well as huge gifts that bless our lives.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.