It is my goal to start each day with a grateful heart, expressing thankfulness for the blessings in my life. That’s what this series is all about…starting the week off right with an attitude of gratitude. Care to join me?
I was biking one morning recently, pushing myself to work hard so that I was pedaling with purpose. I was checking out my progress and admiring the swift pace I was moving at when…boom….my ride was interrupted. I was already around the corner of the street when I noticed two dogs barking loudly and trailing behind me. Soon the smaller dog was running alongside me as I found myself slowing down to avoid running into the larger dog now blocking my path. I managed to keep biking as I greeted them, then decided to circle back around the block and lead them back to their home. It sounded like a good plan, but as I biked past their home the second time they refused to stop and kept trailing me, to the dismay of their owner. “Great, this will really slow down my pace!” was my thought as I screeched to a halt in hopes that they would stop, too. Bad plan. They took off in this direction, then that one, running free while I made small talk with their owner.
Although I was annoyed at first for having to put my bike ride on hold, I found myself enjoying our conversation. It turns out we both had rescue dogs, so we shared stories about how we came across our beloved pets. As the dogs disappeared in a neighbor’s yard, I said goodbye and resumed my ride. As I continued on I thought about how the inconvenience of dogs chasing me on my bike ride had turned into a pleasant conversation with a neighbor I’d never met. How many times has that happened to me before? Too many to count!
I’ve not always been calm about life’s interruptions, but I’ve learned through experiences that many times they happen for my good. Like the day I had to wait for 10 minutes at Walmart to do a return because no one was at the Customer Service Desk, but found myself blessed by a conversation with the stranger in line in front of me. Or the day my husband and I missed our plane flight home, which gave me another night to spend with my family. Or the day I was super busy at work and found myself interviewing an unscheduled applicant, watching her leave with teary eyes, thanking God for the message he had sent me through a stranger.
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Sometimes life’s interruptions can become the biggest blessings in our lives. What we see as inconveniences can be opportunities in disguise. That is why I say that I am grateful for life’s interruptions. They force me to slow down and hear God’s voice in the midst of the busyness of my day.
What are you grateful for today?
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