Around the Internet, there is Thankfulness everywhere!! I love that. It softens even the toughest of hearts, doesn’t it? There is power in gratitude. I believe that is truly where my favorite verse was heading when Paul finished his passionate prayer prescription with this:
Philippians 4:8
New Living Translation (NLT)
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Amen?
Gratitude can fight and win every battle we have with that dark negativity that threatens our peace. It’s that good. I am constantly reminded of this verse, and we try our best to instill this Truth in our every day lives.
Not just during Thanksgiving.
Perhaps that is the real challenge, my friends. Will you still be thankful in the cold dark months of February? The dreary endless days of March? At the hospital? In your sick bed? Going to your miserable workplace? Captive at home with sick kids? Stressed with financial burdens? Wrestling through family conflicts? Etc. Those days are the ones that gratitude desperately cries out to carry.
Gratitude changes hearts. It can change yours too, if you let it. Even in your darkest times- it’s there… bound deep within. Every single day, we have a choice to allow it to reveal itself in all its glory. We can choose to find the light in our journey, or we can be weighed down with the heavy burdens that can shadow our perspective and sometimes even sink us. It just needs to be released.
Perhaps you will take this Holiday theme to heart. To your heart. Daily. Hourly if need be.
It’s the greatest gift you will ever need.
Open it by will.
It’s waiting.
Always.
So well said. I am in the middle of a post about being thankful for the things I complain about. Well, I called it something better than that, but that’s essentially what it’s about. I have so many things to be thankful for and we are so blessed in so many ways. I need to be better at remembering that more regularly.
It’s the half empty or half full mentality. It sounds so trivial, but really- if we live it out… it changes everything!! I can’t wait to read that post!!
Yeah. This is a tough ol’ challenge alright, thinking ahead to the dark, cold, rain-filled days of miserablest winter, when I’m cycling my commute and soaked and chilled to the bone before the day even begins…*siiiiigh*
Sometimes the good ideas are such EFFORT!
But YAY! You’re in the hop 😀 Love that.
Ugh. I must say my friend- that sounds completely horrible and chillingly miserable. Umm… be grateful you have a bike? That’s all I got. LOL 😉
Yeah, okay, I’ll go with that – thankful I don’t have to walk. *sigh*
Rain is SO not my thing.
Would you rather snow?? 😉
Noooooooooo oooo ooooo ooooooo definitely not. I would NOT swap.
I love this verse, Chris. It’s perfect. There’s always something to be grateful for each day. Always. We just have to remind ourselves of this sometimes.
I swear I think I use this verse too much in my posts… but I can’t help it! It is one of my very FAVORITES EVER!! I love it when scripture just threads through your heart and spills over into your life. I believe that is how God intended for His Word to be absorbed. Such a blessing right there!!
You hit the nail on the head! It’s so hard to be thankful during those rough patches in life, isn’t it? I used to keep a gratitude journal, and it helped me to be mindful of even the little things that I was thankful for.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I love the idea of a GRATITUDE JOURNAL!!! If I wasn’t so lazy, I would totally do that! We write down blessings and stick them in our “Blessings Jar” every week- so that is our best ‘practice’ at it here in our home. It’s really something!
YOU have a beautiful Holiday too, my friend!! XOXO
Amen and amen! And one of my favorite verses.
MINE TOO!!!! MINE TOO!!! (Just another reason why we need to be BFFs. 😉 )
I hope all of the thankfulness people are expressing through November sticks and they keep it up through the other months. It’s true. Gratefulness changes a person. Even in the darkest of times, there are things for which to be thankful. We just need to make a habit of looking for it.
I do like that scripture verse.
That scripture is one of my faves…. I keep it floating around here a lot! You are so right with all you said, Christine!! There really is an art to being grateful and practicing it in the best of the times AND the worst of times. Thanks so much for coming by my friend!!! So ‘grateful’!!! 🙂
You said this perfectly and trust me Chris, this weekend alone I feel like I have tons to be thankful for, including my little girl’s third birthday. I try my best to write down and keep track of all I am indeed thankful for, but seriously thank you for reminding me yet again that I am truly grateful for the life I do have!! 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving, too!!
I love that you are so beautifully intentional with your gratitude Janine!! It shows… in your heart and in your gorgeous perspective on life. XOXO
You’re right–thanksgiving should occur every day, not just on a holiday!
It sounds so “cliche” but really- in practice, it can be a lifeline during those rough moments/days/weeks of our lives.
Well said. We always have a choice. Always. Even if it seems like the situations we’re in doesn’t seem to offer any alternative, we can choose how we will respond. We can chose love.
And we can choose to look BEYOND our circumstances and see much more than our own dreary landscape. There is always ALWAYS something to embrace that is rich with light. No matter how dark it gets in our days. Amen? XOXO
Beautifully written as always!!
AW! You are too kind Angela! Thank you my friend!!! XO
I love that gratitude changes hearts! And your middle paragraph about all that can go wrong – kids sick, miserable workplace, oh boy – you really nailed how I can get in the middle of winter. (never in summer, though)
We can choose thankfulness and gratitude.
Isn’t that THAT when we need it most? Clinging to light in the midst of all the darkness that at times can surround our every day. That is when I need it most. And that is when being intentional is so critical. It can be our lifeline, when we struggle and need something to hold on to. Amen? It’s always there for the taking… we just have to go find it. 🙂
Sort of like my last comment, but I am just WOWED by the way you are allowing God to use your circumstances to bless others. Chris, you are just the coolest. Thank you.
Oh Meredith!! Your encouragement fills me with so much warmth and love I just wanna burst open and SQUEAL!!! Or run over to your place and maul you with hugs and kisses!! I adore you to the moon and back, my friend!!!! MWUAH! XOXOXO
Amen sister! I think we would all agree that it’s much more difficult to be grateful in the “thick of it”. But that’s where the richest reward can be found (wish I could always remember that)! Thank you for the beautiful reminder (as always!)
I love how you said that Marcia!! “That’s where the richest reward can be found”… YES!!! Because when we really try to be intentional, discovering that light in the darkness, is so incredibly powerful. That is when we need it most. XOXOXO
One of my blog friends wrote a reverse bucket list…instead of all the things she wants to do, she wrote about all the things in her life she was grateful for. I loved that concept. If we can just look at all the things we have to be grateful for, Thanksgiving comes every day!
It’s the “half-full” mentality, right? We are so richly blessed- and there are days where I really miss out on noticing every detail that I should be grateful for. EVEN when it’s rough, there is a bounty to acknowledge and embrace- always. I love your friend’s idea!!
Great post!!! Part of why I never participate in the 30 days of Thankfulness (or whatever it’s called) in November – I think that we need to remember some of that all year long (especially in the months after all of the holiday let-down!).
EXACTLY KIM!!! I see all the ‘gratitude’ going around and I wonder- will they find that same spirit after the hoopla of it all? I do hope so…
That’s when we really need to be intentional about it. 🙂
Hit the nail on the head again…because everyday is where it counts.
EXACTLY Laurie!! It’s wonderful to see all the gratitude floating around these days- but I really wonder how intentional we all are in our “every day”. It must be carried through to the days we need to embrace it most. Amen? 😉
I’m going to make a promise to do this. To be thankful even when I don’t feel very thankful. Kind of a “fake it til you make it” deal. And I am going to remember this as the stress that holidays bring takes hold.
Just try to focus on all the good elements in your life- that’s the key, I think! There are ALWAYS good things… even when we are in the midst of painful circumstances. Amen? (How are you though? Really.? Praying for you always… Love you so much my friend!!)
I totally agree!! It needs to be a life practice.
I know you do agree Sarah! I loved your post on this topic so much!! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by. So ‘grateful’. XO
Gratitude is life changing. It allows us to see the good even in the most difficult situations. I agree – that we should all endeavor to stay grateful even after Thanksgiving is over.
YES my dear… oh YES!!! Choosing to be grateful despite our circumstances- is a gift we need to embrace DAILY!! (I love you for stopping by!!! 58 hours now??? OY.)
Excellent post Chris! I will be very interested to see if the thankfulness season can continue…wouldn’t that be amazing and wonderful?! I would LOVE it! :)-Ashley
Yes it surely would Ashley!! We can be intentional every day to make it happen! 🙂
Yes! Great to see you on the hop – WOOP! And I agree, gratitude is a choice, but also a gift if you choose it each day. Well done, well said. love it. 🙂
Oh thanks so much Beth! I think we are on the same page with this one! It IS a gift we can choose to be intentional with every day. CHEERS to THAT! 😉
I love this. Thankfulness is such an important part of contentment and happiness for me! Well said.
Amen Susan! The best way to forge through our lives, isn’t it? There are always a hundred blessings to find in our every day… 🙂
I try to stay thankful throughout the whole year. It is so important to be aware of all the good things in our lives.
Amen to THAT Joy! It’s the best way to live. 🙂
Love it! That is such a wonderful verse and a lovely reminder that we should all focus on what we have, no what we are lacking. Happy Thanksgiving my friend!
It’s hard sometimes, especially in the face of adversity. BUT I really truly believe that it is then we need to embrace it most. We will always be lacking!!! That will never change. So why not just be focused on what we do have? AMIRIGHT? 😉
This is wonderful and so very, VERY true! We spend so much time complaining and then it takes a holiday like Thanksgiving to shake us up a bit and remind us that we should be grateful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. Great & thoughtful post!
Thanks Marcia!!! It is interesting how people come out in droves with gratitude… when really, every single day there is reason to be grateful. Plenty of reasons. And even in the midst of those dark days, it’s most important to find things to be thankful for.
You’re a love to stop by and share your light here, my friend!!! XO
Right on! I have more to be thankful for than I could ever, ever deserve! The most awesome (and handsome) husband a girl could ask for, the best friends God has to give, and the most precious children…kids’ school, teachers, church family…….
bursting with thankfulness! And YOU, my friend, are one of my absolute things to give thanks for!
XOXOX
We really have an ABUNDANCE of blessings in our lives, don’t we WPB? Oh how grateful I am for all the same things!!!!
Can’t wait until Friday!! YAY!
Meeee toooooo!
Friday! Friday! Friday!!!
This is really beautiful and so well said. It is much harder to be thankful when things aren’t going the way we’d hoped they would. But, like you said, perhaps that is the very most important time to be thankful of all. Because really? We have so much. Love. Warmth.
I swear by it- gratitude is the BEST remedy for any bad day. Bad week. Bad year. We always have light to hold on to- ALWAYS! XOXO
SLOW moving, as always… well- I will get here… Gratitude is an AWESOME concept! I try & most of the time succeed but there are times I don’t, I think I need to make a more conscious effort to show gratitude. Fantastic post, SSSF. XOXOXOXO. Happy Thanksgiving.
Oh babe… I am so GRATEFUL FOR YOU!!!! I am thinking about you so so much. Praying for you honey!! Please give me an update when you can?
I hope you can have a beautiful holiday despite what’s going on… how are you feeling? Oh how I worry about you!! XOXO
I love the verse. I might have to steal it. We seem to forget how thankful we should be the moment something goes wrong. Thanks for the reminder!
Steal away!!! It’s everyone’s for the keeping!!! It’s really one of my faves- it just sticks well. And really- applicable all the time, isn’t it? I try hard to remind myself of this truth constantly!!
And it really makes such a difference in my perspective. Even in the worst of times…
I love LOVE seeing you here!!! WOOHOO!!! 🙂
Gratitude does change hearts. 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Thanks so much for stopping by Cyndi!! I hope you have a beautiful Thanksgiving too! 🙂
Once again, so beautifully said!
Each night as I lay to sleep I think of the things I am thankful for that day. It truly is not just for Thanksgiving — we need to remember our blessings daily.
I just LOVE that you end your day that way, Christina! Perfect!! 🙂
One of my all time favorite verses, Chris. (As I’m sure you know!) I have admittedly been a bit a Thanksgiving Scrooge. Glad to get a great reminder here!
I think I float that verse around here more than any of them! It’s definitely my fave- because ANYONE can be touched by it, and who could ever debate it’s value? I do hope you are able to raise yourself above the yuck (been there) and embrace the ‘good stuff’ today, Adrienne!! Happy Thanksgiving dear friend!!!
It’s always so refreshing to stop by here Chris! 😉 I do love the Thanksgiving holiday, it’s a time that melts even the hardest of hearts and more than likely everyone will be doing the same thing…fellowshipping with family and loved ones and being grateful for being able to do just that. But, as you’ve stated, it can’t just stop there. Gratefulness must become a lifestyle for us, so that we can receive all we need from Him in order to minister to others. Thanks for reminding us my friend to always have a grateful heart, because quite frankly…He’s been too good to us for us not to! Have a good one Chris! xoxo
I just LOVE what you said Michell!!! There is so much to be grateful for every day…. we can’t miss all the blessings He has bestowed on us! What a dishonor to the Almighty Giver and Gracious God.