Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessings.
~Author Unknown
It’s been 31 days of gratitude.
I have learned so much.
- How beautiful it is to struggle and fight for what is important.
- How therapeutic it is to reach out and encourage other people even while you’re struggling because pouring into other people’s lives when you yourself are fighting has got to be one of the most amazing gifts that God could ever give.
- Accepting help and encouragement from other people is like oxygen to the soul.
- Noticing and appreciating the little things going on around you on a daily basis takes an immense amount of discipline and focus, but if you do, this awakening happens in your heart and you can’t stop smiling… even if you’re crying.
- God is near to the brokenhearted and He speaks in the most beautifully simple ways – like a tear that trickles down a child’s face, a nose twitch that happens when your friend laughs, a big ol’ bear hug from your husband when you didn’t say a word, yet, it was exactly what you needed, a passage of scripture that reaches out and hugs your heart when it’s aching, a deliciously cooked roasted chicken around a table with friends where the conversation gives you hope in a way that makes you feel like you could climb Mount Everest.
Gratitude can be found in the struggle – God can be found in the struggle.
He is found through encouraging words and timely hugs.
He is found in accepting other people’s strength when you are at your weakest.
He is found in roasted chicken and hopeful conversation.
He is found if we take the time to open our eyes.
All He asks is that we slow down long enough to notice.
These past 31 days have taught me there is a right time for everything: a time for birth, for death, to plant, to reap, to kill, to heal, to destroy, to construct, to cry, to laugh, to lament, to cheer, to embrace, to part, to search, to hold, to let go, to rip, to mend, to be quiet, to speak up (Ecclesiastes 3).
Every day has something good in it.
Every day provides an awesome opportunity to learn and grow.
Every day is beautiful.
Every day is important.
But…
Gratitude is daily.
It’s a discipline.
It takes work.
It takes focus.
It’s a training of the mind, a reprogramming of the brain, a kneading of the heart.
It requires us to unplug from the world and plug into God.
And when we do…
It becomes a habit.
It becomes second nature.
It becomes a way of life.
It becomes our lifestyle – the way we think, act, live, speak, breath, walk, do, be, ooze… we become these contagious beings walking around effecting people with a whole lotta humour, happiness and Holy Ghost. Holla!
Friends, there’s something to be grateful for in every. single. day. There really is. So let’s not stop at 31.
I leave you with this poem I found on Pinterest three weeks ago. It spoke to me. I pray it speaks to you.
Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire, if you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes, they will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary because it means you’ve made a difference.
Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
~James 1:17
