Eight days ago Thomas, the Lead Pastor of my church, shared something in our time of prayer prior to the worship service. He made the observation that he had been seeing a lot of social media posts relating to frustration over the seemingly never-ending winter. While he too was not a fan of the weather, especially in this, his first Wisconsin winter, he encouraged us to spend a few minute focusing on the positive and giving thanks to God. Those 15 minutes were not only the highlight of my day, but were also pivotal in bringing about a change in my attitude.
The next day I decided to carry Thomas' encouragement further. I was reminded how in November, leading up to Thanksgiving, many people updated their status daily with things for which they gave thanks. So I thought it would be kind of fun to do something similar for the remaining days of February. I have dubbed it the #TwentySomeDaysOfThanks.
So far it's been pretty cool. I've noticed that my attitude has been better. Instead of complaining about things I've been trying to look for the positive in every situation. It's so easy, at least for me, to get caught up in the negative. I mean let's be honest; it's been a tough winter. But here's one thing that I have discovered. When I look for the good and give thanks to God my whole outlook changes.
Is every aspect of my day going to be perfect? I doubt it. But all in all I've got a pretty fantastic life. I have so much for which to be thankful! So why not give praise, honor, and glory to Him who has given it to me?
Since I've started this adventure of thanks I have become so much more aware of all the wonderful things God has done. For example, yesterday morning I was taken aback by the beauty of the flowers that were in a vase on our kitchen counter. So much so that I had to take a picture. They were given to my wife and I the night before by some friends we had to our house for dinner. As I snapped the shot I couldn't help but give thanks to God for creating such beauty. And when I uploaded the picture and made it the cover photo on my Facebook page had to again give thanks to God. This time for blessing my wife and I with wonderful friends like them, and many more, who have brought such love, joy, and laughter to our lives.
It's not rocket surgery, (I know; I'm mixing them up on purpose because I'm also thankful for dorky humor,) nobody needs a PhD in gratitude. Most of the time I just give a silent "Thank you God for _____" and go about my day. I encourage you to do the same. I'd love to hear/read your stories of thanks as well.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin fresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)
This is a great post! Have you ever read "1,000 Gifts" by Ann Voskamp? I read it a couple years ago and was challenged in the same way you describe here. It's AMAZING how gratitude changes things!
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