Over the last several years my wife Cathy and I have had our eyes opened and our lives transformed through the power of appreciation and wonder! The atmosphere of our family and community has been warmed, healed and transformed. The gift of noticing and amplifying the small and large seeds of beauty and goodness all around us in our everyday lives has become the key to a hidden treasure chest of joy and transformation.
I co-lead a weekly prayer gathering of our local businesspeople, where we have learned the power of gratitude over several years. We’ve found we can lift our faith and expectation thus sharing and multiplying God’s goodness. Every week we spend time together remembering, telling and thanking Father God for the good things in our daily lives. Recently a vision came to me of how this works among us; the image of the joy of children blowing dandelions into explosions of wonder, delight, and beauty.
I think most of us will remember the experience and fun of blowing a dandelion and watching the seeds fly everywhere like angelic parachutes. This is a perfect metaphor for the way we remember and capture joyful memories and golden moments both small and great within our lives (Phil 4:8). Just like children we notice, we amplify, and we blow from our hearts the breath of gratitude and appreciation to our Creator and Provider (James 1:17-18).
Current breakthroughs in brain science are deepening our understanding of the process and powerful effect both internally and relationally of our human capacity to amplify and appreciate the positive things of life. We have learned that the well-trained mind is able to find the one thing that’s going right even when there are twenty things going wrong. As dandelion seeds are carried on the wind to create more dandelions, each time we publicly share our joy and appreciation stories, we release seeds of expectation from God’s heart that says, “I want to do it again for you!” (Interesting video: https://youtu.be/eceQyFhwBN4)
- Notice! Pick up your daily dandelions — Notice the good things!
- Wonder! Blow from your heart the breath of appreciation & amplification on it — privately & publicly.
- Delight! Delight in the change of atmosphere and the multiplication of the seeds of transformation in yours and other’s lives.
- Expect! Look for the ways your appreciation and gratitude change you, others and the atmosphere!
Special thanks to Kent Larson, Pastor in Laguna Niguel, California for being a Guest Blogger for Life Model Works. He and his community are applying Life Model wisdom and practices in loving and creative ways in Southern California and beyond.
