I Am Grateful for Today.

I'm not sure about you, but I hate camping... Thankfully, it's been years since I've had to go. The last time was probably when I was a teenager, and somewhere between then and now, I'd made a quiet decision that the days of sleeping in a tent were behind me.

But some old friends invited me to, people I hadn't spent proper time with in far too long, and so I said yes. And I immediately regretted it.

The trip was this last weekend... The day was lovely. It was so sunny. We walked, talked, took a dip in the hot tub, and had a lovely meal at a local pub.

But then it came time to sleep. It was cold, windy, and my allergies started playing up with all the long grass. I was also thinking about the huge snake I'd nearly trodden on next to my tent earlier that had my nerves on edge.

I lay awake most of the night listening to the wind, trying to ignore the cold, and then when morning finally came, it came at 5am with the largest chorus of birds I had absolutely no interest in hearing...

I dragged myself up and walked across the field to find the loo (toilet for my American friends). And somewhere in between, I looked up.

The sky was doing something extraordinary. Clouds lit from underneath, the kind of colors you don't expect to find in the middle of nowhere, the whole horizon putting on a display that had absolutely nothing to do with me or my plans or how badly I'd slept.

And I was furious - a strange response, I admit, to a beautiful sunrise. I generally think something has gone terribly wrong if I'm seeing a sunrise.

But as I was walking, God spoke to me in that moment. I was grateful for that beautiful display. No one else was around to see it. Just me. Angry. But grateful.

And I wonder if that's actually what gratitude looks like sometimes. Not a warm feeling, not a perfect quiet time, not a moment you planned. Just stopping long enough to notice what God has put in front of you.

I know for some of you, what you're waking up to right now makes my bad night in a tent look like nothing. Somewhere far less scenic and far more difficult.

But somewhere in it, however small, however hidden, I believe there is something worth being grateful for. You might just have to look a little harder to find it.

I am grateful for today.