Grateful Saturday - guidebooks and generosity

I have been reading several bloggers Grateful Saturday posts for quite a few months now and have wanted to join in ever since I started reading. Finally I am getting off my butt (or should that read sitting ON my butt?) and committing to making this post my first grateful post and planning that there will be many, many more.

This Saturday I am grateful for many, many things but wanted just to pick out two that have really meant a lot to me this week.

1. Guidebooks.

I'm not talking street maps here, or instructions about how to operate your iPhone, laptop or flat screen TV. I'm grateful for books written by people who have found techniques or journeys or belief systems that have helped them in their journey through life.

At the moment I am reading Eat Pray Love for the second time. It's helping me. A lot. I can identify with so many aspects of Liz Gilbert's life...especially the searching bit.

It's been a very interesting experience for me, having grown up in Pentecostal church all my life with the belief that "this" was THE ultimate and only truth and being warned to shy away from anything that suggests otherwise. For the majority of my life I have been very reluctant to read anything that was, in my mind, too "New Age, thinking that I had just hopped on a one way road to hell if I did. With the passage of time, maturity, therapy, counselling and a mind a little more open to other things, I have found that reading new things and opening my mind to other possibilities has pointed me in a new direction. I have a new found faith in the God I always believed existed but was too scared by trying to "keep to the rules" to get to know Him. I read ideas from other schools of thought with a real "wheat and chaff" approach - looking for the kernels of wisdom and truth and shelving anything that doesn't sit right with me.

Since taking this road, I have never felt so loved, so safe, so assured of my path. I feel His love within me. I am less judgemental, more accepting and filled with more peace than I've ever felt before. My faith doesn't look anything like what my upbringing would have told me was acceptable (and I am getting pressures from outside influences to "keep to the rules") but I know that this path is the right one for now.

So.....I am grateful to those searchers who have been brave enough to explore their own paths and write about their experiences on that journey.

2. Generosity

This week I have been the recipient of the incredible generosity of my (ex) Mother-in-Law. Due to declining physical ability she came to the decision last weekend that it was no longer safe for her to continue driving. It was a tough and emotional decision, but she knew it was time. As a result, she GAVE her cute little Mitsubishi Lancer to ME!

I do already have a car - a huge Ford Falcon with a large space in the back to be able to transport a motorised wheelchair. (it's an ex-taxi) It's been a God-send to our family and has allowed us to take out daughter's wheelchairs wherever we go so that they are able to be independent. But let's face it,, it's a BIG car, it's in no way girly and has been cumbersome to drive. I've always dreamed of a small car to drive around when I don't have to transport wheelchairs. Now I have one. It's gorgeous, it purrs like a kitten, it's light on the steering, it's zippy. My son will also learn to drive in it.

My MIL hasn't asked for any payment for it. I will just pay for the transfer of registration. That's all. I am eternally grateful for her generous heart, even though I am no longer with her eldest son. She wishes to remain friends as we have always been. I hope to be able to continue blessing her as well.

Joining in with the gratefulness over at Lemon Rhodes.