Plenty of reasons to be grateful

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 107:1)

Each of us is a recipient of God’s love and care. Developing an attitude of gratefulness to God builds within us an attitude of gratefulness for life and for all that it brings our way. When we take a moment to stop and look around, when we see the birds, the sky, the view, the flowers, the greenery, when we reflect on the things we enjoy—the love that we have and that we share with others, our children, our experiences—we find plenty of reasons to be grateful.

Gratitude causes us to focus on all the wonderful things that we have instead of what we think we’re missing or haven’t yet received. Recognizing that we have so much, and focusing with gratitude on that abundance, opens the door for more of God’s blessings to come into our lives.

Something that’s helping me cultivate more thankfulness in my life is keeping a gratitude journal. I love how it reminds me of what God has done for me—about the many joys I have in my life, the prayers answered, the victories won, the things He’s done in the lives of my loved ones.

It reminds me that God is involved in my life, and causes me to love Him and thank Him all the more. Being grateful for the good makes more good things happen. [1]

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into 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 vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie (b. 1948)

[1] Activated Practicing Gratitude