Gratefulness

I've been feeling very unbloggy lately. Not, antibloggy just a bit uninterested and I think I know why. A few weeks back our Pastor talked about gratefulness, or the lack of gratefulness actually, and it has really stirred me up. Now, I would not consider myself an ungrateful person. Being thankful is important to me. But lately God has been exposing the depth of my gratefulness and I am finding it to be shallow at best. A small puddle of gratefulness instead of a deep sea.

On a regular basis I thank God for my family and friends of course. I thank him for my home, my car, my cat, and for food and clothing. The regular stuff. I often am grateful and thank Him for a warm bed, my pillow, my chiropractor, a full refrigerator, a full gas tank, hot water. More regular stuff. Or is it? To many people in the world, these are not regular at all! Luxuries, wishes, things only dreamt of.

My husband came home from a breakfast meeting with a friend yesterday and posed this question to me....what if, tomorrow you woke up and had only the things that you thanked God for today. What would you have? Would I be able to smile, talk? Would the sky be blue? Would my husband love me? Would I have a relationship with the Lord?

Gratefulness is not something we can tack on to the end of our list of Christian virtues. It is vital. We cannot worship God without being thankful. It's just not possible. In her book, Choosing Gratitude, Nancy Leigh DeMoss says, "We must choose gratitude, first and foremost because it is the only fitting response to a good and gracious God who has delivered us from our guilt and shame."

It's never too late to become a more grateful person. Unfortunately, it takes a bit of practice. If you would like to be part of a group of people that are each listing one thousand things that they are grateful for click on Ann Voskamp's button below {thanks Sara}.

When thou hast thanked thy God

For every blessing sent,

What time will then remain

For murmurs or lament?

R.C. Trench