Relationships, Kindness and Grace

I took a little bit of a break in my online journaling over the past week or so. The last week of October was a doozie with the inclusion of emotional upheaval that led up to the single most challenging day of the year so far for me and my family. I was able to get in most of my planned workouts and wrote in my personal journal most days, and that helped with my stress level. It's good to be back to a somewhat normal mindset now.

We all have challenging days and weeks. I wrote here about stress, how our bodies are designed to handle it, and how we become stronger because of it. Last Sunday at church, my pastor, David McDonald, talked about the importance of having a strong root system in our relationships. I thank God every day for the strength of mine, because without it, weathering the storms would leave me feeling destroyed instead of stronger.

Another point in Dave's message last Sunday that was timely for me to hear is that kindness and grace play a vitally important role in growing and strengthening your root system. He likened this to a farmer spreading seed on his field. Some will take root and grow - others will not. But every seed has potential, and so every seed counts. The same goes for kindness and grace: every kind deed and act of grace you bestow on another will not reap reward in the form of a better relationship, but some will. Every act of kindness and grace counts.

"Not every seed grows, but every seed counts." ---Dr. David McDonald

I keep a personal journal in which I write almost every day. The first sentence each day is a statement of something I am grateful for. When is the last time you took a few minutes to just reflect on the things you're thankful for?