Drops of Inspira

 Hello! Here at the end of the month of November 2023, I wanted to write a poem. Those that have followed this blog over the last couple of years know that I used to write poetry and post a poem a month, usually on the 15th of every month. Since my unplanned hiatus last year, I haven't really written any poetry except when my cousin and grandpa passed away, but I wanted to try and stretch those muscles again today. The results aren't exactly what I hoped for, but I'm thankful for the words all the same. I'm learning to be thankful for the struggles as well as the blessings. These little things that don't seem the best. I know I could do better, but right now, my poetry muscles are tired and out of practice. And that is okay. So, here is my little poem born out of the darkness of sadness and healing. My reminder to myself that the simple act of giving thanks is like sunlight. It makes me warmer and happier and should be scattered liberally. And that's a wrap! I...

 Hello! Thank you for joining me for another Monday! Today I'm discussing another area I feel woefully inadequate to write about: being thankful in every season.  When I was thinking about which aspect of thankfulness to write about this week, I really hoped to write about something a little more cliché. Something more happy. Something easier to write about. But as I thought more about it, the theme of being thankful in every season kept coming up. Songs about it kept playing on my Spotify. It came up in conversations with my friends. It came up in my prayer journal early, early this morning (like 2:30 early. Hello insomnia.). And it came up this morning. Being thankful is easier when the sun is out, the sky is blue and things are going our way. It's easier when there is plenty to eat and when our bank accounts aren't running on empty. It's a lot harder when we're sinking under depression, running from anxiety, sobbing in choking grief, our pantries are running empt...

 Hello! One of my favorite holiday movies' is White Christmas   with Bing Crosby. Mostly, this is thanks to my mom. Her father loved Bing Crosby so she carried that love over and shared it with me.  There are a lot of songs in that movie, but one of them has stuck with me. Or rather the refrain has: "When I'm worried and I can't sleep I count my blessings instead of sheep And I fall asleep counting my blessings" Too often, I worry. It's a human thing. We all do it. But when I worry, I tend to tunnel inward. To bury myself. If it's strong enough, the worry turns into anxiety and if it's very bad, it turns into a full-blown panic attack.  You see, if I worry, then I'm looking at myself to fix my problems, which I can't. When my focus isn't on God and is on myself, I spiral, and all I can think about are my misfortunes. Things look worse than they probably are.  Instead of worrying, something that I can do is to count my blessings. To list thi...

 Hello and welcome to November! November has to be my favorite month of the year. Not only is it the month of Thanksgiving if you're in the United States, but it's also the month of my mom's birthday. I grew up very close to my mom, and she's still very important to me so her birthday is always a cause for me to celebrate, to give thanks that she is with me for another year. Speaking of giving thanks... That is the topic of the blog for this month. Giving Thanks. Yes, I know it might be a little cliché, but it's also something I think, that we don't do often enough. For some reason, as a society we all seem very entitled. We have rights. We even have a Bill of Rights. We feel that we are owed certain things and we get angry when we don't get them. As a society, we are very entitled. But listen. We are not actually owed anything. And for what we are given, we should give thanks.  We should give thanks the year 'round, but let's start with this month. ...