Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ~1 Thessalonians 5:18
November is here!!! How I love this month with is chilly mornings, falling leaves, cozy sweaters, and wool socks. The very best part of November, at least for me, is Thanksgiving. This is a holiday for traditional foods and family gatherings that bring back precious memories, and invites us to make new ones. But most importantly, it is a time to intentionally thank God for all His grace-filled blessings which He lavishes upon us each and every day.
I'm sure that all of you who follow me here are grateful to the Lord for all He has done. But do we stop and actually take time to thank Him? Verbally or in writing? If you are a parent, you understand the monumental task of teaching your children from the moment they can speak to say the "magic" words, please and thank you. What a glorious day it is when our children say, "Thank you," without having to be prompted or prodded to do so.
Imagine, then, how our heavenly Father feels when we actually tell Him, "Thank you," and mean it with all our heart. I can envision Him smiling broadly like a proud Papa at His beloved children.
That's why I've decided to start a Gratitude Attitude journal for the month of November. I'll write down at least one thing for which I'm grateful each day. Some days, of course, I will certainly record more than one circumstance or happening where the Lord deserves my thanks and praise. At month's end, I'll have a record of the manifold ways in which God has blessed me and others in my life.
Would you like to join me in this journal adventure of gratitude? Or, maybe, you're already engaged in a daily routine of keeping a journal of your thankful thought to God. Either way, I'd love to hear about it in the comment section below.
And who knows? We may all fall in love with our gratitude attitudes toward our Abba that this practice will continue until the moment we draw our last breath here on earth. And the best news? We can then spend eternity thanking Him face to face.
Amen!
.jpg)
Bom dia, Martha
ReplyDeletePostagem muito edificante, a gratidão alegra o coração de Deus e o nosso também. O diário de gratidão é uma ótima ideia, há sempre muitos motivos para agradecer, vou começar a escrever na minha agenda, obrigada pela dica. Gostei de saber que Paul David Tripp tem um devocional, deve ser bênção, estou lendo o livro dele: Instrumentos nas Mãos do Redentor, é muito bom, um forte abraço.
PDT is such an excellent writer, Lucinalva, I agree wholeheartedly. I'm so glad, too, that you are going to join me in this gratitude attitude adventure. Gratitude, as you said, gladdens our hearts and God's.
DeleteGrace and blessings!
Sounds like a great idea! (And good luck on the comment before me!) :)
ReplyDeleteI have a way to translate, Bill, thank goodness! Lucinalva is a beautiful person, inside and out. Glad you liked the gratitude attitude idea, too.
DeleteGrace and blessings!
If I were to start a Gratitude Journal I would need to build a large extension to the house in order to store all the journals.
ReplyDeleteA great post, Martha. Thank you and God bless always.
Now that gives us all something to think about, Victor. Our gratitude to God should be endless!
DeleteGrace and blessings!
Another great post...and I am with Victor on this, it would take a much larger place in order to store all the verbal and handwritten thank you's. Wishing you a beautiful day.
ReplyDeleteAs I told Victor, Linda, our gratitude to God should be endless, taking up much more room than we could ever imagine.
DeleteGrace and blessings!
We have much to be grateful for.
ReplyDeleteWe absolutely do, Glynn.
DeleteGrace and blessings!
Yes, we do have so much to be thankful for...and our friends here in Blogland are always on the list. I will try to do as you have suggested...sometimes my good intentions get lost in the hubbub of life, but I do try to be intentionally thankful for something every day. This is a wonderful way to spend this month, and every month, for certain! Thank you for your wonderful, thoughtful and encouraging posts always. Be blessed my friend.
ReplyDeletePamela, even if we start our day simply thanking God for His keeping us through the night, that's a good beginning to our gratitude journey. I do hope to carry this practice on passed November, too.
DeleteGrace and blessings!
Gratitude makes life always beautiful, no matter what happens. God bless you, dear friend 🧡
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, it does, Linda. A gratitude attitude can turn even the craziest of days into a positive experience.
DeleteGrace and blessings!
I have been promoted in the past few months to thank God for a long and blessed life. There have been trials, but especially in those times I have been most thankful for His abiding presence.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Martha!
Lulu
Sometimes, Lulu, it is those very trials of life that bring out our deepest gratitude for God's love and presence. That's a great thing!
DeleteGrace and blessings!
I would like to start a Gratitude Attitude journal along with you Martha and will do that...hopefully, I won't walk away from the computer and forget. I'm good at that. I am thankful for this beautiful day today. We have blue skies, sunshine, and the leaves are gold and orange and falling. Beauty only God could make and bless us with. Thank you for your encouraging posts.
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased you want to join me on this Gratitude Attitude journey, Henny! The day you describe looks like the header photo I shared that my husband, Danny, took years ago. So much to be thankful for!
DeleteGrace and blessings!
That's a great idea Martha. I have a couple of blog friends who always add what they are grateful for at the bottom of their daily blog posts.
ReplyDeleteI have one blogging friend who does the same, Martha. It's a small world, isn't it?
DeleteGrace and blessings!
Beautifully said, dear friend--and not surprisingly, we're on the same page again regarding the importance of this activity. Actually, applying the gratitude attitude on a daily basis has been a part of how Diane and I begin our day for decades. We've believed that acknowledging what He does for us on a daily basis is the beginning point of how we express our love for Him. I learned something about that process a long time ago in the relatively early years of our life together.
ReplyDeleteFor a while, we had adopted a practice of taking early morning walks together and just chatting back and forth. Without telling her about it decided that I was going to add something to the routine. Every morning, I was going to mention some new thing about her that I really appreciated. For a while it was pretty easy, but as the days went on it was a little more challenging to come up with new material. I discovered that in order to do that, I had to start paying attention to her at a different level. I had to watch more closely, listen more carefully, and see her from different perspectives. What I learned was that there was so much more that I loved about her than I had ever imagined. And the same thing is true about the incredible God we love and serve. The more we pay attention to what He does, what He says, how He handles certain situations, and what He accomplishes in, through, and for us, leads to a discovery that our love hasn't begun to probe the depths that we're capable of experiencing, and that He deserves.
So, thank you. sweet, gifted sister, and may the living God we serve together bless you and Danny with fresh waves of love infused gratitude every day.
I so appreciate the detail you went into with your comment here, Ron. Yes, the deeper we come to know God, the more we can find in which we can give Him thanks and praise for all things. What a great way you chose to make Diane feel special and loved.
DeleteGrace and blessings!
We gave much to be thankful for -Christine cmlk79.blogspot .com
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea! A month full of actual thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteMartha, about 30 years ago, I started a grateful journal. I promised to write to God - 5 things every single day that I was grateful for. For some reason this stuck with me, and I am still doing it today. I have tried to get so many friends to do this with me - as it has CHANGED MY ENTIRE LIFE! I just can't tell you the difference it has made in my life. So, I will keep doing it with you!
ReplyDeleteBack in 2017 I was gifted a lovely turquoise journal and decided to use it for a record of daily gratitude. Now I'm on a third journal for this purpose. I only write down one or two items so the practice isn't burdensome. But combing through the day's events to decide what to write adds to the pleasure!
ReplyDeleteI'm having a fellowship tomorrow with my bible study ladies and we' ll be focusing on thankfulness. I'm looking forward to what will be revealed.
ReplyDeleteMartha, just before I read this, I answered an author's newsletter question. She asked us to say in 10 words or less what we're thankful for this year. My answer - "God has graciously held me up through some tough times!" Love, hugs, and blessings to you for God's grace to give us thankful attitudes!
ReplyDelete