Thankfulness

Thankfulness - I'm sure I've written about this before. Only....only it's often too easy to forget what thankfulness is truly all about. Sometimes it's easy to see what we have to be thankful for. Like when we make it through a difficult situation and see the stamina that brought us through.....or when we see a friend mourn the loss of her husband - a child mourn the loss of their father....or watch a parent mourn the loss of a child...... It's easy to be thankful when all the bad things in life aren't happening to us...... Is it easy to be that thankful when people just don't seem to cooperate? Is it easy to be thankful when we're hurt, angry, triggered? Is it easy to be thankful when our patience is worn thin, when the days are long and the problems never-ending? Is it ever easy? Is it easy to actually feel blessed in the mess? Is it easy to have a heart of joy and thankfulness when the darkness, the loss & hurt, or the greed & envy show up -----is it easy to be thankful then? The short answer is no. ......and if we're being honest, the long answer is often no too. Sadly, the act of thankfulness appears to be more of a rarity than the norm. If we were all intentional about being thankful then maybe....just maybe.....our hearts would be softer, our tones more loving, our beliefs just as strong - but our words more carefully chosen. If we were all intentional about being constantly thankful then those hard times would force us to look to the One who knows far more than we can ever understand....If we were all intentional about being more thankful then the hurts wouldn't sting as bad, and we wouldn't take the triggers as personally.....and we could have conversations that move us toward healing. If we were more intentional about being thankful, it wouldn't take heartache to bring us to our knees. We'd humble our hearts and remember....truly remember....ALL the blessings we are given every day. Blessings in the heartache, in the differences, in the trials, in the triggers, and the unknowns. If we concentrate on being thankful, we realize there's so much more to life than feeling like we're fighting an uphill battle. We might be in an actual spiritual battle with the devil every day of our lives, but guess what, JESUS already won the WAR - the day he said “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34 "You shall be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43 “It is finished!” John 19:30 Wow, now just imagine all we have to look forward to - (and in the meantime let's be THANKFUL:). There's so much we have left to do! “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22)