Intentional Gratitude

Today I started reading the She Reads Truth Thanksgiving devotional. If you've never checked out #SheReadsTruth, I highly recommend it. It's a devotional geared towards women and it's always beautifully written and full of truth. You can check it out here. Gratitude is something that I never seem to be intentional enough with. I will thank God for everything, praise Him for all He's done and move on with life. I struggle with remaining grateful in all circumstances. I can dwell on my "have nots" to the point where it affects my soul. It's not that I'm not grateful, I'm just not intentional about it and when I'm not intentional about it, satan tends to sneak in and remind me of the things I don't have, like free time, a clean house, and financial security (at least my standards of it). I've found that if you are not intentional about replacing those negatives with gratitude, it can quickly turn joy into bitterness and contentment into unrighteous longing. A few years ago, I started a "Thankful Thursday" post as a way to focus on gratitude. Like anything that we're not intentional about, it fell to the wayside. But right now we're entering the season of gratitude, Thanksgiving. The devotional in SRT from the other day talked about actively resting in the goodness of God. The author says "rejoicing is not a passive pursuit. Thanksgiving is not just an emotion. We are to let the world know what He has done and what He is doing! We are to pray to Him, seek Him, give Him thanks with an expectant, joyful heart. This is God's will for us in Jesus!" I love that truth found in Psalm 30:1-12, Psalm 105:1-45, and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I choose to sing God's praises and tell all who care to listen about the good He has done because I can't help it! How could I not let the song in my heart be sung so loudly that it's heard by everyone around me? So in pursuing intentional gratitude, I decided to pick up where I left off in my list of things I'm grateful for, or in other words, why my heart sings His praises. If you want to catch up, feel free to check out the original post here or just click the label "Why My Heart Sings" at the bottom of this post.


166. A quiet house this morning to spend quality time with the Lord
167. #SheReadsTruth
168. The written Word of God, preserved for centuries by the grace of God
169. The freedom to worship publicly without fear of persecution
170. The Holy Spirit, who takes words written in a book and makes them living words by speaking truth directly to our soul
171. My friends and family that take time from their lives to read about my random musings
172. The spiritual guidance and accountability provided by my soulmate Parker
173. The way God uses my two precious babies to mold and refine me as His daughter
174. The ability to send my kids to a loving, Christ-focused environment a few days a week so that I can pursue God's calling on my life
175. God's calling on my heart to love the nations
176. God's calling and leading to my new position at Cafe1040
177. A sewing business that provides an outlet for my creativity and a quiet space to convene with the Lord
178. A home so full of physical provision that I can't keep up with the laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc
179. Coffee, without which I might never accomplish anything
180. The abundance of good Christian literature available through people called and inspired by God to write
181. So much family close by that we have to have 2 Thanksgiving dinners to accommodate everyone
182. Never having to wonder if I will be able to put food on the table for my family
183. My husband's work ethic, diligence, and integrity that provides a means for God's provision tour family
184. God's revelation of His calling to ministry within my husband's job
185. A theologically sound church that teaches love, grace, and truth through a personal relationship with Jesus
186. Central heating on this very cold morning
187. Friends and family that love my children almost as much as I do
189. My children's health and well being
190. Mary Elizabeth's kind and loving spirit
191. Mary Elizabeth's stubborn independence, which makes me crazy but I know will serve her well in life
192. Mary Elizabeth's young heart for Jesus
193. My children's love for each other
194. Little Parker's sensitive and sweet spirit
195. Little Parker's determination and passion, which (again) makes me crazy but I know will serve him well in life
196. Little Parker's admiration of his sister
197. A husband who is not only an incredible friend and lover of my soul, but also an amazingly loving daddy
198. My mom's love of "Nonni days," sleepovers with Mary Elizabeth, and quality time with me and the kids
199. The training that I am in the middle of for my new job and the Biblical basis for it
200. The incredible availability of clean water, something we take amazing advantage of as Americans


Praise God, for all these things and so many more are provided directly from your loving hand. Please help me to stay focused on intentional gratitude, actively resting in your amazing provision, and never taking for granted the things we have.