The Month of Gratitude

My Facebook newsfeed has been taken over by posts of gratitude since yesterday!

 

I enjoy reading what everyone is thankful for, but isn't it interesting we all wait until November each year to give thanks consistently?

 

Now I'm not about to claim that I know how grateful or ungrateful the next person is throughout the rest of the year, because I don't.  I'm also not claiming I am grateful every day, all the time, because I'm not.  All I know is that if we took the time and effort to focus on and share with others what we're grateful for on a daily basis - WOW, would our general attitudes towards life be different!  Can you imagine?!

 

Just think about it.  It's positive psychology: you think positive, you feel positive.  Or in this case, you think grateful, you feel grateful.

 

Paul tells us in Colossians 3:17 that "whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

 

Notice he says "whatever" you do, not "some things" you do.

 

This is reinforced in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

 

ALL circumstances.

 

Psalm 118:24 reminds us be grateful we're here and alive.  It says, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

That's every day - not just 30 days out of each year.

 

And more than just giving thanks, the Bible tells us to have "thankfulness in [our] hearts to God (Colossians 3:16)."  We are to be genuinely grateful and thankful in our hearts to offer honest thanks to our Lord.  So again, we think grateful, we feel grateful.

 

I want to have a grateful heart, all the time, in every circumstance.  So I need to start by thinking grateful, like so many others are doing now.  I probably won't publicly share something new on Facebook each day, but I did find a great little printout over at Motherhood on a Dime.



It's a 30 day gratitude journal that the blogger created to use with her family throughout the month of November.  I love the idea of doing this with my family!  She says, "the idea is to simply get in the habit of saying thanks to God and to those around us."  And my hope is that if my family can do this together for 30 days, we can remain grateful each day after.  It will be our mindset, and it will be in our hearts.

I can't wait to get started!  I especially can't wait to see what our son says when I ask him what he's thankful for.  But I'll begin by sharing what I'm thankful for right now:  My family, and the God-given opportunity to think grateful, feel grateful, and change our hearts together.


Have a great weekend everyone!