Gratitude Monday – I surrendered controlled to God and a family was blessed.

GM (Gratitude Monday) Foot Soldiers! This is my first GM post on the blog. I usually just post it on the Daley Word Facebook page but having it as a blog post makes it easier to reference in the future. Often times we dread Mondays and I find nothing lifts my spirit more than gratitude. With that being said, I never thought I would ever utter surrender and grateful in the same sentence – I’ll explain why.

After my mother’s death, I realized how frightening it was to be at the mercy of others. As I entered my twenties, it became so important for me to be in control of my body, my mind, my destiny, my happiness – my everything. I followed that same philosophy with my children. It was very important to me for my children to feel empowered especially when it came to their body, mind and spirit. I had my own version of children’s rights to further protect them. These rules even applied to their father and me.

Low and behold it was not until my 40s that I discovered I had to give up control to reach true joy. I did not fully realize how much I lost faith in God. Denial was the biggest lie I’ve ever had to uncover because it was masked in a veil of truth. That veil of truth was one of my most favorite scriptures: “Faith without works is dead.”

Surrendering control is still hard for me but I try doing it with each passing day. When I do not give up control my day is a mess! Over the past weekend I gave up that control to God and the blessings spread to a family. I am grateful this Monday morning I am able to submit even when these knees of mine are a knockin’.

Remember that gratitude improves attitude! GM Foot Soldiers!