I opened up my journals and began to read. I chuckled to myself when I ran across the page that started “I am thankful for the funny duck in the pond”. It was written quite boldly and I remember why. I was struggling that day. Mom and I were writing in our gratitude journals after her chemo, and receiving some tough news. It had been a very rough day for us both. I was not having a gratitude journal moment. But I promised Mom I would write something down. So I saw a duck in her pond that liked to swim upside down. He was a funny little fella. So that’s what I wrote down. (In bold). Because I thought that would be all I wrote down. But it was not.
As I sat there looking at this funny duck, I began to feel the breeze on my face as I sat on the porch swing and I became present. I just breathed in and opened my eyes. My husband was in the next room with my Mom and Dad, and two of our kids were on their way as well for a visit. That sentence right there was filled with many “is” moments. Not with “is not’s.” I wrote it down. There were many things to be grateful for and that was just one sentence. Turns out that Mr. Duck led me to many more gratitude moments. What I found more than anything is that my gratitude journal helped me jump into the present. I love the quote by Mike Mason that says “A decision to rejoice in the present, changes not only the present, it also changes my view of the past and ignites my future with hope.” Living in the moment helps us recognize that God IS in that moment. The longer I live the more I realize that joy is truly rooted in gratitude. You cannot have a joyful heart without having a grateful heart. Joy and gratitude just go together.
On that very bad day, or so I thought, I was walking around with a gigantic spiritual blindfold over my eyes, focusing on what was not, instead of what was. It’s easy to do isn’t it? C.S. Lewis warns, we have a tendency to “reject the good that God offers us because, at that moment, we excepted some other good.” I have learned that joy simply cannot grow in the presence of ingratitude.
Mom often said to me to “be present. It was a gift. Untie the ribbons!” The longer I live the more I realize the depth in her words. “Don’t demand that a moment last 
longer than it can. Wring every bit of pleasure out of the moment because you don’t know when the next one will come.” The present truly is a gift. If we spend too much time wishing for do-overs, we are missing the whole point of being present, and wasting precious time. It minimizes today.
One of my favorite scriptures that I recite the minute my foot steps on the floor each morning is Psalms 118:24: This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!” God can be found in every moment if I look, rejoice, and walk in that gladness of the present! There is “bless in the mess” if we look for it. Even in our worst messes, we can find blessings if we look for them. I have found in my own life that it truly is in the messes that I found a deepened faith, and that faith led to joy. A bless in the mess!
On my vision board that hangs on my wall, Phillipians 4:8 stands as a center verse. I have learned on this journey it is a roadmap leading to a life of gratitude and joy. Fill your minds with things that are true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse” (Message)
If you feel like life is a mess. Gratitude is nowhere to be found, and quite frankly the last thing you feel is joy. Take a few minutes and breathe in the present. You are here. Take time to look around and breathe in all of what IS in your life. Even if it starts with something very simple, like a duck. Rest in knowing God is in that moment. He cares. The breath you are taking is a gift.
Untie the ribbons and find the joy waiting inside.