Bags of money? Or a blessed little?

Jumadal- Thanni 11, 1444A.H.

Assalam alaekum waramatullahi wabarakatu, dear sis,

Trust you're doing well, striving and thriving.

Today was different.

It was different in a good way, alhamduliLlahi. I've attended retreats in the fanciest of places, with the best food, etc. but often left with a weight that I didn't need on my scale spiritually and errr, physically.

Today, I had the simplest retreat ever in a free location, with the tiniest team, the simplest menu and a ton of goodness.

It was so good that it made me appreciate the blessing of little. It made me see how Barakah could elevate the ordinary to extraordinary.

Interestingly, nothing went according to my intital plan. But that's fine, because Allah's plan was better.

It started with a cash constraint that naturally brought along an unhealthy dose of indecisiveness with it. I eventually decided on a decent figure and 'Tawakkul ed' it. On my way to the venue I got a credit alert that would cover for all the expenses, AlhamduliLlah.

Then, I planned to start by 9am but apparently, the place didn't open till 10am. The implication of that was we would lose an hour and stand the risk of not achieving our intentions. I shrugged it off and spent the time getting extra supplies. I still have no words for how we finished early and covered everything we needed to, and even played games!

These are just two things out of many others that went well including leaving our homes and arriving safe and getting the best seats for our event.

Today made me realise the joy in the simple things and also reminded me of how our dear prophet (SAW) had such an awesome life even with very little.

It is unfortunate that greed, hoarding, constant acquiring, etc. have made us lose sight of the joy in the simple things.

I also can't ignore how embracing gratitude gently nudges me to see the good in every situation.

Today, I'm grateful for the gift of little.

I'm grateful for the openings from what Allah has taken away.

I hope that after reading this you can look at the simplest parts of your life and be grateful for them too. This week's resources are specially curated to help you get to a point of valuing the simple and little too.

First up is this Khutbah with Ustadh Jubril Alao on two key things you need to survive this year. Can you guess what they are?

The second is a message on contentment by Mufti Menk that I found helpful and I am sure you will too.

The last message is a sermon by Sh. Yasir Qadhi on ways we can strive for Barakah in all we do

I pray that Allah let's you experience Barakah in you time, wealth and resources and blesses you with gratitude for the things you've got

P.S One of us wrote this last night and slept off before she hit send, don't ask who it is.. The retreat was that good.

We leave you in Allah's care,

One of Us At Ibadahplug.