And so, the reflections about positive things continues. As I have mentioned before, I am treating this as an exercise in gratitude. With that in mind, here are three positive things I am grateful for today.

1) Last night, I got a message from my brother Thomas that he wanted to come by and hang out for a bit. Thomas is super busy starting his final year of a dual-masters program at the University of Minnesota. Yet, even though he’s so busy with school, work and his volunteer service, he still makes time to spend with us. What a wonderful brother! It was great to see him last night and hear some about how his classes are going so far early this term, as well as about the new jobs that he has. From the sound of it, it seems that Thomas has found a wonderful fit given his training, strengths, education, experience and passion. I’m excited to see how the year goes for him, and I’m grateful that Thomas always makes time to spend with us.

2) While out taking care of errands, Allison and I had the pleasure to run into our friend Beth Wartick. Beth is pregnant, and the baby is due to come at any time now. We found her at the store this afternoon and got a full update. It was wonderful to see her. She is going to be a fantastic mother, and we are so excited for her and J.W.

3) Today Allison and I both felt compelled to submit proposals for potential workshops that we would like to share and lead at the 2015 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Youth Ministry Extravaganza in Detroit, Michigan. Allison submitted a proposal built around her understanding and passion for helping people tell their stories as a way to grow and build capacity for themselves and others. I submitted one that would work to integrate some leadership theories and training with theological and ministry frameworks and understandings. I hope both proposals are accepted. But even if they are not, this was a positive experience today because it helped remind us of some of our own passions and gifts that we like to share with others.

Those are three positives for me today. What are some of your positives today?

I’ll wrap up the five-day series tomorrow. Until then, thanks for reading!