Such an Honor

Attitude of Gratitude Award

This is an award for people who know how to make lemonade out of the lemons that life sometimes hands you. It is also an award for blogs that have a good Attitude and plenty of Gratitude. Your attitude is not determined by circumstances, but by how you respond to your circumstances. It’s how you react to events, not the events themselves, that determines your attitude.

When I started blogging in January I intended for it to be a blog for my business, Grand Occasions and offer tips and advice on weddings and events, but I quickly discovered many delightful ladies with the same interests as me, so my Grand Occasions turned into a personal blog and a place I come to relax, get inspired, pick up clever ideas and meet new friends. I have gotten to know some very special ladies and I'm looking forward to meeting many more. I've learned they are very patient and understanding friends and continue to visit even when I'm a little slow in publishing new posts.

I would like to introduce you to one of those friends, Sherri at Sharing with Sherri. I was deeply touched when she gave me my very first award this week. It's the Attitude of Gratitude Award! I feel so honored and excited to have been given such a special award. Now, she tells me I have to share what has given me that attitude of gratitude and to be honest, I'm not exactly sure I know except by the grace of God. I don't know if it's something that's been developed or if that's just the way the Lord made me. I was raised by parents that didn't take anything for granted and who expected us to be thankful for and take care of what we had and were given. If you didn't show appreciation or respect for whatever it was, it was taken away and sometimes given to someone else who was in need of it or who would appreciate it. We never felt like we were entitled to things as so many children and adults are today even thought looking back we had more than most. Our parents were older and worked hard for what they had and what was given to us. My mother died when I was 10 and my sister was only 5. Even thought that was very young I had a solid foundation and lot of determination. The Lord provided us with an abundance of godly women to give advice, make costumes, take us shopping, provide a bed or whatever else we were in need of at the time. We loved being with our Daddy and especially loved going to work with him (he owned a beauty salon), but there were just some things a daddy didn't know how to handle like a woman did. As Sherri said there were good times and bad times especially after our daddy re-married, but somehow by the Lord's grace I came out unscathed and ended up with a whole lot of knowledge about a whole lot of things. I think life is short and even though this world we live in is not what it was intended to be it's filled with amazing beauty and a lot to be enjoyed. I'm a people person. They interest me, they are all different, they all have their own unique story and I'll let you in on a little secret...none of them are perfect and every single one of them no matter where they come from, how much they have or don't have, has a problem or two. I am thankful for all of those godly self-less ladies the Lord put in my life and the times they shared with us that sometimes weren't convenient. If I could go back and change things I honestly don't know how much I would change. I've learned valuable lessons that I would otherwise never have learned. The trick is to put into practice what you've learned. Of course you always wonder what if, but remember this, nothing will ever happen in our lives that the Lord doesn't allow. He knows all about it even before it ever happens. He's promised to never leave or forsake us so take hold of His hand and enjoy the stroll. He'll do the leading so you can enjoy the scenery. He didn't promise us a life without lemons, in fact He's told us there would be lots of lemons and He's given us the recipe to make lemonade with them. So if you have bowl full, a bag full or maybe even a whole house full of lemons, start squeezing them and add plenty of sugar you will find that it's very refreshing!

Sherri is a brand new blogger as well, please stop by her blog for a visit and get to know her http://sharingwithsherri.blogspot.com/


Thank you Sherri for this very special award. I feel very honored and blessed to have met you!