I Am Grateful!

Gratefulness is a choice.  I was challenged to write down 50 things that I am grateful about.

The first ten were easy.
The next ten were a little harder, but not too bad.
The next ten took some thought.
The next ten challenged me.
The last ten took the longest.

Now you might say, "Oh, 50, that's easy!"  Go ahead and try.  But here are the rules.  You may not repeat.  You may not expand on something.  (For example.  "I am grateful for my marriage." may not be followed with, "I am grateful for the woman I love.")  You need to include all areas of your life — vocation, relationships, faith and so on.

Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Contentment, happiness that is independent of external circumstances,  isn't assumed, it is pursued.  And the method of pursuit is through gratefulness.

If I were to ask you to write down Fifty things that are wrong in your life, I bet that you would do it quickly.  Fifty things that you are not content about?  Easy.

But when we cultivate a heart of gratefulness that says, "In spite of my situation I will be grateful.", we embrace faith and is above and beyond anything this world has to offer.

Our faith in Christ allows us to do that.  When we remember what He has done for us on the cross and through His resurrection, we will respond with gratefulness.  When we remember that we trust our lives with His will, we will respond with gratefulness.  When we remember that everything in our lives, our marriages, our families and our futures are gifts from Him, we will be grateful for them.

PRAY:  Dear Jesus, I am grateful for everything that you have given me.  AMEN