Learning curves.
I think I could say I’ve largely always been a grateful person (I hope God doesn’t read my blog). For most of my life I have understood how wealthy I am (not monetarily speaking) and filthy rich with blessings that many are without. I know that I have been greatly blessed, but I don’t often stop to actually express my gratitude to God and others.
This holiday season I am going through a journey and to be quite frank I have had a difficult time finding things to be thankful for (besides the obvious choices…my husband, children, home, provisions, etc.) amidst many frustrations that are surrounding me during this time in my life. It was not by coincidence that early this week while we were away on a short family vacation I opened up my devotional and it was all about gratitude. Attaboy, Jesus.
The definition of gratitude is learning to recognize and express appreciation for the benefits we have received from God and from others. I needed this broken down for me and my book was very helpful with that…
Recognize – To fully recognize what we have to be grateful for is to open the eyes of our hearts and be alert focusing on the goodness of God each day…a treasure hunt for blessings. This is a daily struggle for me at which point I find myself wallowing in mud and have to mentally pull myself out of the rut I am sinking in and slap myself around a bit. I really do have so much to be thankful for and I know what these many things are.
Express appreciation – Be intentional about thanking God as well as others for all blessings that come our way which in turn gives us frequent opportunities to invest back into those who are involved in our lives…our return gift to them and to the Lord. I can do this and do it genuinely. Thanking people and God for blessing me comes easy. Apologizing….well….let’s save that for another post.
Being mindful of the benefits we have received helps us squeeze bitterness and entitlement from our hearts replacing negative with positive. Our heavenly Father has showered us with many good and bad things. I am learning that these ‘bad things’ (because who complains about the good things?) in my life are benefits intended to make me more like Jesus. This is so true in so many vastly different areas of my life. Only recently have I actually been able to thank God for certain very negative things and unfortunate circumstances of my life after truly realizing they all have a purpose and I am beginning to see the purpose very clearly. It is, of course, very hard to see when you’re in the midst of a trial. Perhaps it comes with spiritual maturity (which I do not profess to have but am growing each day).
Today I am thankful for much. I have a rough week ahead. Prayers for the Baileys, if you will. 
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” ~ Colossians 3: 15-17
