I had other plans for this weekend. Spreading mulch and doing weeding, some errands to the garden center… which the downpours have postponed. And I’ll confess it made me a little cranky.

Then I broke a favorite glass…

And  I have to pay bills… do laundry and dishes… All which were  beginning to put me in a foul mood. Instead, I focused on the loveliness around me…

The first Peace rose of the summer…

Irises from our garden…

The wisteria having a party on the pergola…

Grandma’s peonies about to pop…

And while I’m still a little cranky about the weather… there’s a lot of beauty to appreciate. And the discipline of gratefulness to practice… even when the weather (or people like me!) are just a wee bit ugly!

Henri Nouwen wrote in Return of the Prodigal Son:

“Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. I can choose to be grateful when I am criticized, even when my heart still responds in bitterness. I can choose to speak about goodness and beauty, even when my inner eye still looks for someone to accuse or something to call ugly. I can choose to listen to the voices that forgive and to look at the faces that smile, even while I still hear words of revenge and see grimaces of hatred.”

I choose to be grateful and keep trying to show love. Even when I don’t feel like it. Especially when I don’t feel like it.