Crazy, blood pumping morning over here at Gratitude homestead in Blue ridge TX. I was up early making a fire in the wood burning stove, and needed to clear the old ashes out first. We usually the ash on our mulch pile because it’s typically damp, and mixes well for future garden compost. We just got a new shipment of wood chips, so I thought I’d start them in the decomposing process with the extra ash. Well…as soon as I tossed it, I realized, the metal container I was using felt a little “warm”. “Hmmm…maybe there were some embers in there.” I thought. But I was still mentally deprived of coffee and had a young child waiting to start the fire with me inside, so I continued on with my morning. An hour later, when the boys went out to feed the animals, they sprinted back in to yell, “FIRE.” I ran outside to see my little “ash drop” consuming half the mulch pile in a blaze. We tried to turn on the hose, but they were frozen solid from the cold front and nothing came out. We scrambled to find buckets of any kind and ran back and forth from the house to the mulch pile. It was like a non-stop CrossFit workout where your lively hood depends on it. After 30 min, the fire went out and we were exhausted. Gratefully my wife took it with positive energy and said, “well, that’ll help the decomposing process now won’t it.” It reminded her of a Little House on the Prairie episode when Ma had to put out a fire when Pa wasn’t home. I sat with my stupidity all day, and gave a little speech at family dinner tonight, beginning with, “this was all my fault.” I owned it, and thanked everyone for stepping into gear. I made a point to teach how that little decision, with no mal intent, caused a cascade of problems that the whole family had to deal with. Just like how we sin in our lives. Some time we make a decision that is seemingly small, and insignificant, but if left unchecked can turn into an all consuming fire that destroys everything we’ve worked so hard for. It could have been worse. If the wind was in the opposite direction direction, it would have pushed the flame towards our house, it could have made it onto our neighbors land, someone could have been injured. But none of that happened, and for that I can be grateful.

September 21st 2022. Two and a half months earlier, I had just gotten married and moved into a new home and now I was climbing into bed for the night thinking about the next day.... wake up at 4:30, go to gym, daily devotional, meditation time, work, lunch, work, dinner, time with family, repeat... In the early morning hours, I fell out of bed and was struggling to get back up and my new bride was like, "what are you doing, get back into bed". She turned on the light to see that I was trying to pull myself up with my right arm and that the left side of my face didn't look normal. I had complete left side neglect and was incoherent, a sure sign of a massive stroke. ....A 911 call, an ambulance ride and emergency thrombectomy to remove the clot from my brain... that is how September 22nd actually went down... After a couple of days in ICU, I had a pretty miraculous recovery. All motor skills seemingly returned to normal. I didn't walk away unscathed as there have been some lingering emotional/psychological effects, but I am so very fortunate and blessed to simply be here today. Had this happened a few months earlier, most likely I would have been alone in my bed and who knows what the end result would have been. My wife, her quick call, the paramedics, the fact that one of the best medical facilities that actually performs the emergency procedure I needed was within minutes, the doctors, nurses, medical staff, friends, family and God.... the list of things to be thankful for goes on and on and I am not sure I will ever be able to express my gratitude to the extent with which I truly feel it. I just celebrated my 56th birthday and will soon celebrate my 4th anniversary with my lovely bride. September 22nd, 2022 went nothing like I planned but it certainly sparked an awareness within me that gratitude is important but gratitude NOW while the opportunity exists is even more so. Don't let the opportunity to let others know you appreciate them pass by because you never know....

I'm excited for this challenge. Of course, the warm and fuzzies are coming up, but I didn't expect so much "old stuff" to come up with it. Regret about not reaching out to people when I should have, old apologies I never worked up the courage to make, old friends I drifted away from. Nothing inappropriate for a card/note, but I'm surprised by how they've surfaced. It's as though my mind was waiting for permission to release these old stories. Whoo...March is going to be interesting.

Hi I’m Dr. Franchelle Caesar, I’m a Medical Doctor, International Life Coach, & Financial Coach for Spenders My business is Financial Savvy for High-Achievers & Career-Minded Women I help you feel as confident about your savings account as you do about your credentials. I heard about the Mr. Thank You Project when @John Israel was interviewed on the Ninja Selling Podcast. I’ve always wanted to write hand-written notes and send timely thank you’s but the “busyness” of life has always gotten in the way. Until Ninja. Now I focus on what matters…building relationships. And my life and business are so much better. I’m here to grow in my gratitude skills. I’m delighted to be with you all in this space.

I wanted to share something that happened to me! I am a pretty good mom. Always room for improvement. I am never the mom that shows up to the school parties and fund raisers with homemade treats or great crafts and games. I am there, but never have the time or confidence to go the extra mile and I secretly judge myself for this shortcoming. There is a mom whose daughter has gone to my son’s school. We have known each other in passing for 8 years. She is that rock star mom. She is the mom that makes all of us other “bad or less than” moms feel more guilt and shame. I am ashamed to say that I envied her and it kept me from connecting. So… I wrote a thank you note. I thanked for always being the mom that makes the kids school parties a huge success. I thanked her for always taking photos of the events that she attended and making a point to share them with the other moms and dads that couldn’t attend. I thanked her for her creativity and her cooking. I recognized her efforts and how hard it must be to manage it all and have a full time job. She is truly amazing and I let that flow in my words. I sheepishly handed her the card and went about my day. She chased me down after school and as the tears started to flow she thanked me for thanking her. She thanked me for recognizing everything she does and that it isn’t easy but she loves it. NO ONE HAD EVER THANKED HER. 8 years of multiple holiday parties, school events, PTA meetings, fundraisers and NO ONE had thanked her. WOW. I told her that we all see her but were secretly judging ourselves for our shortcomings and it kept us from reaching out. I promised her that even though I won’t have the most spectacular homemade contribution for future parties, I will be reaching out weeks ahead of every party to see how I can help her. And now, we have a date for coffee next week!