-Maria is instructed by the Reverend Mother to take on the job of governess to the von Trapp children. Maria, rightfully so, feels wildly overwhelmed at the idea of having to care for seven children of varying ages. But more than that, she is afraid to leave the abbey. On some level she feels she is being punished for her wild ways, and begs the Reverend Mother for another chance, assuring her that she can change her ways and “fit in.” When Reverend Mother insists, Maria then feels afraid. She has been protected, safe inside the abbey walls. She has been at least somewhat sure of her goal in life to become a nun. But now everything has been upended, and Maria isn’t sure of anything anymore. But one thing she is sure of is that wherever she goes, she does not go alone. God will go with her and fill her with the “confidence” she needs to succeed in the task set before her. It can feel scary taking a step out in faith for God. We don’t know what the future holds or if we are capable of what He puts before us, but He is with us the whole way. And He promises us in Scripture (2 Peter 1:3, 2 Timothy 3:17, Hebrews 13:21) that He has fully equipped us for what He has given us to do, so like Maria, we too can go out in “confidence.”

-Ok, so the scene where Maria and the children are singing about their favorite things used to bug the heck out of me. It was just so cutesy. 😛 But when I was re-watching the movie this past week, I saw the whole scene differently. Maria is comforting the children when they’re scared and upset by reminding them about all the good things and blessings they have in their lives. I love this!

Eight years ago, I was reading a book by Ray Hollenbach called A Month of Thanksgiving, and at the beginning of the book, he gave the reader a challenge, the Gratitude Challenge: every day you have to write down three things that you’re thankful for. It can be anything you want that brings you joy or that you are thankful for, and you can do more than three things a day if you want to, but you can never do any less. So I started doing it for the month, but liked it so much I kept it going. Eight years later and I haven’t missed a day since. I have a list miles long of so many things I’m grateful for, and it really has changed my life. This practice rewires your brain, I’m serious! For example, I like to look back at the monthly lists I’ve made, and there are many days that are “good.” I can tell they were good because I have tons of things listed, some days close to twenty or thirty things listed. I remember those days very well, and why those things made me so happy. In contrast, I can also see when I had a “bad” day. Bad days are ones when I have only three things listed, and it’s usually something like: “Ben & Jerry’s,” “my fuzzy pajamas,” and “air.” Obviously a bad day. But, the great thing is, I can’t remember why that day was bad, or what happened to make the day so difficult that I could only find three things to be grateful for. I made a conscious choice to focus on things I could be grateful for, and to leave off the multitude of bad things I could have put on the list. As a result, I don’t remember the bad things that happened. I do, however, remember so many lovely details of the good days, because I took the time to literally count my blessings. And it’s so much fun to look over my lists from years going back, it’s like a form of journaling. I highly recommend this practice to anyone. It’s so good to thank God for all the gifts and blessings He’s given us, and I don’t think any of us do it enough.