grains of gratitude

While catching up on my blog reading I found this post at Overwhelmed with Joy which referenced this blog. Being the nosy parker that I am I read their posts. Doing so made me realize that I hadn't kept up with my 30 Day of Gratitude type lists. I had successfully blogged for 30 days about things that I was grateful for. I enjoyed it so much and it made me feel better so I decided to keep it up off-blog.

Lately with the weather being so cold, the kids being so cranky, my not writing gratitudes, etc I've been feeling more cranky myself. So I've decided to join in [I'd like to know who started this...I'll link to them if we can find them].

Today happens to be an especially thoughtful day for me as the service at church focused on Hungry and Homeless. My church is in the 7th largest city in our state. Unfortunately there are a large number of homeless people and many families who rely on public assistance. The readings today were from the local newspaper highlighting homeless children and their dreams, another was about a homeless man who was employed but froze to death because he slept under a highway exit, how crowded the shelters are, how people are only allowed to stay in the shelter for 30 days per year. So here are my gratitudes:

I am grateful that my family has a more than adequate home for our needs, that we are warm, dry, fed and safe.
I am grateful that my family is together and not separated due to poverty.
I am grateful that we do not have to worry about where and when we will receive our next meal.
I am grateful that my children are safe from a life on the streets.

We already have plans to serve at the local food kitchen through D's Girl Scout troop, but now I'm thinking we are going to try to do a toiletries/canned food drive in advance of serving so that we can bring these things with us when we go.

edited: Thanks to Michelle we now know that Christine at Bradys Bunch started Grateful Grains, thank you Christine for starting this, thanks Michelle for letting us know.