Hope and Gratefulness

Today I had the great privilege and honour of sharing in remembering one of our school community parents in her farewell with her family and friends, whose condolences we shared in our previous newsletter. I would not normally write about something like this in our newsletter particularly, but it struck me profoundly.

In the immense sadness of the loss of a mother, grandmother, friend, cousin, daughter was the message of hope and joy that was parallel in this farewell. While we were there in support of the family and shared in their sadness, we were gifted a very special message that I certainly feel I need to keep in mind regularly but sometimes forget in the craziness of life.

This special lady was spoken of in terms of her love and commitment to her family and the way in which even through illness and tragedy, always focussed on what was good. Her Christian faith sustained her through tough times and was demonstrated in the amazing people her children are and the way they have helped each other through this most devastating loss. Often we can focus on what is not working, what we are not happy with, what we want more than what we have and who we are frustrated with. Of course, this is normal and human, and not a judgement on us being good people. But what if we replaced some of this frustration and negativity that creeps in unexpectedly with hope and gratefulness? What might be different?

There is much research to suggest that simply finding something to be grateful for, even a tiny part of a normal day, can have an enormous impact on our mindset and wellbeing. I often forget to do this when I am busy, tired, stressed and annoyed with something. Today was a reminder to me that even in the most tragic of circumstances, there is hope and an opportunity for being grateful. This is not only my experience of a special lady’s life story today, but what the Word of God listened to and interpreted by Christian people is all about.

I invite you to join me this week in finding something to be grateful for that will shine a light to those around us and support someone who may need something as small as a smile! I wish you all a wonderful weekend and ask that you continue to keep Tracy McMahon’s family (especially her son Joe) in your prayers and wishes as they become used to life being different without her, knowing that she is now in the care of her loving God.