Gratitude Challenge.
Today, I'm sitting at a favorite coffee shop, having kicked off my day with coffee, some good time with a friend swapping God-stories, a rained out soccer game, more coffee and a seat next to broad windows letting me see the rainy storm pour outside.
It's been raining in my life a lot this last couple of months. I could sit in it, withdraw into the melancholy & horrifying nature of the hurt that's been dealt to me blow by blow. But I choose not to. I choose to be thankful for every breath that I get to breathe, and every little thing that I encounter - good, bad or indifferent. That kind of perspective changes everything.
That's my challenge to you. For the next 30 days, choose gratitude. Choose to look at every hurt, every inconvenience, every catastrophe, every single thing in your life as something to be thankful for. How, might you ask? Well I can tell you. I've had a lot of experience in it. :)
How does one find gratitude in a broken heart? ~ I am thankful for a thousand things in it. I am thankful for the the ways in which God has lavished His love on me in the last 6 weeks. I am thankful for the pain because it makes me remember that I won't hurt forever. I am thankful for the nights I've cried broken heart to sleep because I am no longer a girl with a heart of stone, but love deeply, care deeper and feel things on levels that others sometimes don't. I am thankful for the ways that God has used my pain & lessons to serve & comfort others in the midst of theirs. I am thankful that it has shown me with greater clarity who truly loves me.....
I could go on and on for ways I find myself finding gratitude in being lied to, mocked, beaten down and kicked while I'm there...but I think you get the picture. Not one inch would I give up to my enemy who wanted to steal my heart's song, my peace of mind, my security, my joy. He cannot have any of it, it's mine and it's safe in the Hands of my Maker. He Rescued my heart. He holds my hand. Can I not find even a moment to thank Him for all He's done and praise Him? Can you? I'm blessed in abundance beyond all I could ever ask or need, even in spite of life circumstances.
Consider what Nichole Nordeman's song "Gratitude" mentions, that sleeping tucked away under a cozy roofed house will not give a glimpse of the gorgeous starry sky above. Perspective is everything. Gratitude changes your perspective. I challenge you. 30 days of gratitude. 30 days to a change of perspective.
And when it's done, we'll sing together this chorus:
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace....
And when we're done, we can ask still for peace, for abundance, for more than we have....with a right heart of gratitude for what we do have.
30 days.
It's been raining in my life a lot this last couple of months. I could sit in it, withdraw into the melancholy & horrifying nature of the hurt that's been dealt to me blow by blow. But I choose not to. I choose to be thankful for every breath that I get to breathe, and every little thing that I encounter - good, bad or indifferent. That kind of perspective changes everything.
That's my challenge to you. For the next 30 days, choose gratitude. Choose to look at every hurt, every inconvenience, every catastrophe, every single thing in your life as something to be thankful for. How, might you ask? Well I can tell you. I've had a lot of experience in it. :)
How does one find gratitude in a broken heart? ~ I am thankful for a thousand things in it. I am thankful for the the ways in which God has lavished His love on me in the last 6 weeks. I am thankful for the pain because it makes me remember that I won't hurt forever. I am thankful for the nights I've cried broken heart to sleep because I am no longer a girl with a heart of stone, but love deeply, care deeper and feel things on levels that others sometimes don't. I am thankful for the ways that God has used my pain & lessons to serve & comfort others in the midst of theirs. I am thankful that it has shown me with greater clarity who truly loves me.....
I could go on and on for ways I find myself finding gratitude in being lied to, mocked, beaten down and kicked while I'm there...but I think you get the picture. Not one inch would I give up to my enemy who wanted to steal my heart's song, my peace of mind, my security, my joy. He cannot have any of it, it's mine and it's safe in the Hands of my Maker. He Rescued my heart. He holds my hand. Can I not find even a moment to thank Him for all He's done and praise Him? Can you? I'm blessed in abundance beyond all I could ever ask or need, even in spite of life circumstances.
Consider what Nichole Nordeman's song "Gratitude" mentions, that sleeping tucked away under a cozy roofed house will not give a glimpse of the gorgeous starry sky above. Perspective is everything. Gratitude changes your perspective. I challenge you. 30 days of gratitude. 30 days to a change of perspective.
And when it's done, we'll sing together this chorus:
We'll give thanks to You
With gratitudeFor lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace....
And when we're done, we can ask still for peace, for abundance, for more than we have....with a right heart of gratitude for what we do have.
30 days.
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