Day 1: My Medication...

For the past two years I've used the month of November to be attentive and aware of the many blessings in my life, and I  make a concentrated effort to find gratitude in all things.  Unfortunately, this exercise
doesn't always come easily. There are times when I'm having such an awful day or week or moment that my instinct is to instead focus on the negative. It takes effort on my part to shift my thinking.

So on this day I'm grateful that I finally have my medication. I'm thankful for the 6 very generous individuals in my life who took it upon themselves to ensure that I did not go one more day without it. My instinct when offered the money for my medication was to refuse it. However, I've come to realize that there are times to be the one who gives, and there are times to be the one who receives. That's part of what it is to be in community with one another. Whatever that community may be.

In fact I preached that very lesson in my sermon 4 days before I was gifted the funds for my medication. I wrote as part of my sermon:

"I see the ways that we are called to be both the one who gives and the one who receives. To sometimes be the one giving strength, offering a helping hand, and literally helping to feed one another, and I also see the ways that sometimes we are each the bird at the bottom of the feeder. To weak, to sick, to tired, to find the strength on our own."

So often when I preach a sermon I find the ways in which I too need to continue to grow, and so I received with immense gratitude and humility. And I am so very thankful for this very expensive bottle of medicine that will carry me through the month of November.