ChristianNews
It’s all about gratitude in the fall issue of The Magnolia Journal.
Inside the journal, Joanna Gaines, highlights some of the chores she used to dread, and share how she transformed them into, “reminders of how blessed we are,” and Chip Gaines reveals how he almost married someone else, revealing that, “Sometimes it takes a strongly worded dad letter to convince me that it’s time to leave a dream behind.”
“I kept thinking I should write about a monumental moment in my life or how bad a situation ended up turning out for the good,” Joanna begins, but instead the wife and mother of 4 decided to remind us how blessed we are.
“For a while I had convinced myself that I had gotten my college degree and had four children only to run a taxi service,” Joanna says. “
Instead of seeing it as a taxi service, Joanna started using it as a time to catch up with her children:
“They love to download their days to me when we are out and about,” she says. “Some of the most meaningful talks I’ve had with my kids have been when it’s just one of them and me in the car.”
It’s the same for Joanna’s quiet moments on road trips with husband Chip Gaines:
“The car is often where we connect, process, and get the other up to speed,” she says. “Or, we roll down the windows and let the music play, and that’s just as good.”
“Nothing ever looks the same again: Everything starts looking like a thank you,” the HGTV Fixer Upper host said.
Inside the journal Chip Gaines reflects on a woman he dated before Joanna that he was trying “hard” to make his wife. When what he thought was a good gesture went wrong, Chip reveals in the journal that he received a very kind but stern letter from the girl’s father that expressed his concerns over his level of persistence.
“It’s hard for me to articulate how grateful I am that we don’t always get what we want,” he says. “Sometimes it takes a strongly worded dad letter to convince me that it’s time to leave a dream behind.”
Chip didn’t get what he wanted, but he got what he needed in Joanna:
“I knew almost from the beginning that I wanted a future with [Joanna],” he says. “I wasn’t ready to settle down at that moment, but the idea was no longer foreign.”
Gratitude: The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.