Whispering Names, Remembering Blessings

Disclaimer: This blog article is more personal in nature. 

On Monday mornings at 6:00 am I spend an hour in the adoration chapel at my church. It’s a time for quiet contemplation and prayer.

Normally, I find myself asking for things… i.e., God, please help me with X, Y, and Z. And, to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with asking for things. He even encourages us to ask, seek, and knock for the things we need.

Thankful for Family

But, for whatever reason, this past Monday morning, I felt convicted to change things up and open up with gratitude. Sure, I need lots of things and will keep asking…but, man, I’m also so incredibly blessed.

I started by thanking God for my wife, my children, my son-in-law, my Grandson, and the rest of my family. I took my time with this and whispered each person’s name, picturing their faces.

Interestingly enough, when I thanked God for my 7 children, the image that popped into my mind was when they were much younger. I saw, for example, my son Ryan with his little buzz cut and my daughter Kileigh (who is now a mom!) leading the charge on her youth soccer team (which I coached).

Thankful for Gemba Academy

I also thanked God for Gemba Academy, our team, and our customers (past, current, and future). When Jon, Kevin, and I started this company back in March of 2009, we had no idea what would happen.

To say we started with humble beginnings would be the understatement of the century. In fact, as I’ve shared before, our first “video studio” was a spare bedroom in my old house with a grey bed sheet from Bed, Bath, and Beyond stuck to the wall as my backdrop. Side note: I do remember that bedsheet being expensive, and there was no expense budget back then since we hadn’t earned a penny!

Be Still & Quiet

This gratitude session made me realize that while life’s obstacles and challenges will always be there, so are many blessings and gifts if we look closely enough. We just need to take the time to be still and quiet.

So, if this isn’t something you normally do, I’d encourage you to give it a try. Find a quiet place where you can relax and close your eyes. Then slowly work through the people and things you’re thankful for. Say their names. See their faces. And to make this even better, when you’re done, reach out to these same people and let them know what they mean to you!

Finally, before I end this article, I do want to say how thankful I am to you for reading this and supporting and following Gemba Academy. I sincerely mean this.

More on Gratefulness

If you want more on the topic of gratefulness please check out the blog article titled “The Timeless Power of Gratitude” or listen to Rick Foreman and I talk about “The Benefits of Gratitude.”

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