--John Fitzgerald Kennedy
One of the most important ways to be grateful is to let your actions reflect your gratitude. Many people are quick to express gratitude but are slow to live a life of gratitude. The old saying, “I can’t hear what your saying because your actions are louder than your words” is true.
Many times our actions expose our attitude of entitlement and we wait for things to be done for us rather than for us to be the agent of change and grace. Take a little time to reflect on your life and see if you need to be putting more action to your gratitude. If you really appreciate someone in your life, go to them and serve them.
Let's be grateful for those who give us happiness; they are the charming gardeners who make our soul bloom.
--Marcel Proust
Have you taken the time lately to write down those people in your life who have contributed to where you are? The Sunday School teachers and schoolteachers, your coaches from High School, your parents and grandparents, your pastor or youth minister. All these people may have played a part in where you are today. Thank them.
There are also people who are presently in our life that are adding to our happiness. Your wife or husband, your children, coworkers and friends are all part of the joy of your present life. Tell them how they have made your soul bloom.
The debt of gratitude we owe our mother and father goes forward, not backward. What we owe our parents is the bill presented to us by our children.
--Nancy Friday
Children are a gift from God and with that gift comes a tremendous amount of responsibility. Grandchildren are the prizes of being a parent and when we do a faithful job in our parenting it blesses our parents by letting them know that all the years they invested in us have not gone to waste. They can see that their time on earth will be perpetuated through another generation.
Nothing could be more horrifying than to think you have left the world a worse place than you found it. All of you, who are parents of young ones, show your gratitude to the previous generation by committing yourself to being the best parent you can be.
Help them learn to honor the gifts and sacrifices of their grandparents and express that gratitude with time and attention. Bless them with your love.
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it
--William Arthur Ward
One of my favorite scenes in a movie is in Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. Chevy Chase gets stuck in the attic and finds all the old wrapped presents that were never given away. These were hidden gifts that were tucked away and soon forgotten about.
Search through the attic of your heart and see if there are any wrapped but unspoken blessings in your life. Think back over the past year and try to remember all things that you are grateful for and then ask, “Have I expressed that gratitude.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
~ Melody Beattie ~
We have talked about the importance of being grateful for the persons in our life and expressing that gratitude. Now I want to encourage you to make a list of the things in your life you are grateful for. Let’s face it, even though we live in the poorest state in the union, we are still very well off.
Look around and count your material blessings. I know there are always those who have more, but don’t focus on their stuff, that is coveting. Count your many blessings and name them. As you do that it will help you see that what you have is more than enough and may spur you on to give some of your abundance away to bless someone less fortunate.
"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."
~ Epictetus ~
Here comes the hard part, take some time to reflect on those areas in other peoples’ life where you have coveted and resented their blessings. Confess your lack of joy for their good fortune and say a word of blessing and thanksgiving for their life the way it is.
God’s world is an abundant world and for someone else to have much doesn’t mean it came at your expense. They may have what they do because they have worked hard and blessed many others. Also, pray for them. I have seen many people who had far more material wealth than I, but had far less joy and many more complications. Pray for them, bless them and rejoice in their good fortune.
"A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world."
~ Joseph Addison ~
How do you practice contentment? I think we do so by having a loose grip on our possessions. When we hold tightly to our loot and things we begin to have the false notion that our security is bound up in possessions. God is our security and strength and we need to practice the discipline of holding loosely to material wealth.
Go through your house this weekend and open up your closets and look for the things you have not used in a year. Pull the unworn clothes out, set aside electronic devices, tucked away pieces of furniture and toys that haven’t been played with and give them away! There are plenty of people who are in need, and even if you are in need, there are things in your life you don’t use. Give them away. This will help you practice contentment.
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."
~ Cicero ~
Gratitude has as its root, grace. Grace is ever present from our Lord and He wants us to participate in His grace. Not just as receivers but as givers. When we express gratitude it leads to love and love leads to joy and joy to peace and peace to patience and patience goodness and to patience kindness and from kindness comes self-control.
To receive and give grace opens our lives to receive and give away the fruit of the Spirit. Let practiced gratitude give birth to many great virtues.
"True thanksgiving means that we need to thank God for what He has done for us, and not to tell Him what we have done for Him."
~ George R. Hendrick ~
Its funny how we at times think God couldn’t do without us. How he needs us to pull off His great plan. We need to be reminded that the Scriptures tell us, if we won’t participate, the rocks will do it for us. God is not at our mercy; we are at His.
Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary
Because it means you've made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~
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