Gratitude...

Today I was thinking about how life can be altered irrevocably in a heartbeat. The Queensland floods have had a devastating effect on so many families - homes have been washed away, businesses destroyed and worst of all lives have been lost. And as the death toll slowly rises, it is the individual stories which have moved us and made this awful event all the more real.

The other morning I read of the desperate struggle of pregnant mother Stacey Keep to save her three young children from the flash flood that swept through their home. She was swept onto a railway track whilst clinging onto her 23 month old baby girl Jessica, but the little girl was torn from her arms by the current and is presumed drowned. Her husband Matthew tried to keep two of their children above the flood waters, but they were all swept out of the house. He somehow managed to find some roofing to cling to and was rescued down stream. Maddison (5) and Jacob (4) were saved by their grandmother Pauline, but she then drowned. And the children's other grandmother is also presumed drowned. The toll on this one family alone is just dreadful.

As I read their story the tears fell. I could not imagine what they were going through and it made me pause for a moment and think of all I have to be grateful for in my life. A friend posted on Facebook the other day about how the act of cleaning out her fridge made her realise how lucky she was to have a fridge and electricity. And so this got me thinking about gratitude (and my lack of it). Seems I am all too ready to complain about things, but expressing thankfulness falls way behind. So my challenge this week is to blog about those things (big and small) which I am grateful for in my life.

Maybe you might like to share your blessing too,
With much love,
Lisa xx