Gratitude changes attitude

I am the author of that catchy little phrase - gratitude changes attitude! I penned it during my eight years working with middle schoolers who often times needed a reminder to be grateful. Of course, it is always easier to help someone else see what they need, isn't it?

Overall, God has helped me count my blessings on a fairly regular basis and it honestly does make me a much more upbeat person. I tend to see things on a pretty positive level although my boss (who has the letters "ph.d" after his name) will tell you that I actually start on the negative side at times, work my way around the circle of emotions, and land on a positive place! :)

Yesterday morning I was leaving the house a little later than usual heading for a routine doctor's visit. As I came off the steps onto the driveway, I noticed water beneath my shoes - coming from underneath the garage doors which is not really a positive thing....... I turned around, went back into the house and started down into the basement and heard water running. Again, not so positive. You guessed it, we had a hot water heater issue. I did what every woman does in a case like this, I ran over and looked at it! I ran back upstairs, called Mack to share the happy news. He headed home. I then ran to Stu's room, woke him up (always another positive moment), and asked for his help. Bottom line, we were able to get the water turned off, a plumber on the phone and we are now the proud owners of a new water heater!

As I headed into work a few hours later, the Holy Spirit began to show me the blessings (yes, blessings) of the morning and here is my top ten list of those blessings:

1. Because of the doctor's appointment, I was actually leaving the house in the daylight and so I actually saw the water running under the door.

2. There was enough water that I noticed it.

3. There was not too much water down in the basement yet.

4. The issue was with the pipe and not the tank itself so the cut-off value for the water actually stopped the water. (the heater is 21 years old!)

5. We had the money available to purchase the new water heater.

6. Mack had the days to burn so he was able to take the day off without issue.

7. I had enough medication left that it wasn't an issue to change my doctor's appointment to a later date.

8. I got to drive to work in the daylight!

9. We got a new water heater!

10. Because I was already late, I stopped at Martin's and got a biscuit and Diet Coke!

I'm in the process of reading "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp and it and those ten things listed above are all about a change in my heart that God is doing. Gratitude really does improve attitude.