30 Days of Gratitude – Day Thirty – My Home

Today I am thankful for my home.

I have always been fortunate to have a home.  And as they say … there is no place like home.

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty Nine – Forgiveness

Today I am thankful for forgiveness.

Whether you are receiving it yourself or offering it to someone else it is a precious gift that heals the heart.

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty Eight – Words

Today I am thankful for words.

I love words – reading them, speaking them, hearing them, writing them.

Without words there would be no books, no blogs, no lyrics, no conversations, no news, no love letters, no words with friends, no emails … okay, so no emails might be good on some days LOL.

But seriously … where would we be without words.

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty Seven – Christmas Lights

Today I am thankful for Christmas lights.

Christmas lights are not just beautiful – they are magical.

We have all of our Christmas decorations up but the best part is the lights.

They add so much.  They are like the icing on a cake.

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty Six – Big Cities

Today I am thankful for big cities.

I’ve always loved big cities.  The people, the activity, the diversity has always been exciting and interesting to me.

Some of my favorite big cities are New York, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Fort Worth.

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty Five – Fresh Fruit

Today I am thankful for fresh fruit.

What a luxury it is to be able to go to the store or market and buy fresh fruit!

I love fresh fruit and I usually take it for granted but today I am taking the time to give thanks for fresh fruit.

Strawberries, pineapple, apples, blueberries, oranges, grapefruit, raspberries, pomegranates, watermelon … there are so many delicious kinds.

One of my favorite things to do is cut up a bunch of fresh fruit, mix it together and sprinkle with a little splenda!  Healthy and delicious!

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty Four – Flowers

Today I am thankful for flowers.

There are so many beautiful flowers.  No matter where you live or what season it is there are always beautiful flowers to enjoy and they always seem to brighten the day.

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty Three – Musicals

Today I am thankful for Musicals.

I have always loved musicals.  All kinds of musicals.  Movies, tv shows, stage productions – even animated musicals.

Some of my favorites are Hairspray, The Sound of Music, Beauty and The Beast, The Wizard of Oz, All That Jazz, Little Shop of Horrors, Glee, Chicago, Across The Universe, Wicked.

And I am especially excited to see the movie Les Miserables this month in the theatres.

What did I leave out that you love?

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty Two – Clean Water

Today I am thankful for having access to clean water.

What a blessing it is to have water that comes out of the tap ready to drink, to clean with, to cook with.

What a blessing that I don’t have to walk long distances and carry heavy containers to get clean water or worry about getting diseases from water.

When you have always had access to clean water it is easy to take it for granted but today I am taking the time to give thanks for clean water.

30 Days of Gratitude – Day Twenty One – Soul Force

Today I am thankful for Soul Force.

In case you don’t know, Soul Force is an organization devoted to changing the hearts and minds of religious leaders who engage in anti-homosexual campaigns.

One of Soul Force’s programs is the Equality Ride. The Equality Ride is an annual civil rights bus journey across the United States led by young adults who travel together to schools with policies that discriminate against the LGBTQ community. On these campuses LGBTQA students and faculty are forced to suffer in silence. If they come out they are subject to expulsion and can even be forced into harmful “ex-gay” or “reparative” therapy programs.

The Equality Ride was conceived of in 2005 and hit the road for the first national trip in 2006. Since then, the buses have carried over 100 Riders to over 50 schools.  The message of Equality Ride is clear: discrimination against LGBTQ may be legal, but it is unjust.

In 2005 my son was a Freshman at a Christian college in Texas.  The Equality Ride came to his campus and played an important part in helping him to come out and live an authentic life as a gay man.  They held symposiums on campus (fortunately the campus allowed it) and helped my son discover that scripture did not condemn him or healthy same sex relationships.  They were the beginning of my son thinking about himself in a healthy and loving way, which eventually gave him the courage and confidence to come out and live authentically.  And that was the beginning of me re-examining what I believed about same sex relationships.

Organizations like Soul Force aren’t just changing campuses, they are also changing families and individuals.

I am thankful for this organization and other lgbt social justice organizations such as GLAAD, PFLAG, and HRC.

What lgbt social justice organization has had a positive impact on you or someone you know?