Unexpected Gratefulness

We often talk on Hey Y'all: The Podcast about things we are grateful for and how gratefulness can be an act of worship. I truly believe that being filled with gratitude can shift your perspective and be a beautiful act of praise to the Father. A few years back I added a gratitude journal to my quiet time and I've loved it but here's the thing. When I first started, it was easy to be grateful. I had lots of "big" things happening, however, as life got more challenging it became harder to see those things. I had to actually stop and think about it but that required me to consider all of the tiny or unusual things that I'm actually blessed with and grateful for but often overlook in the hustle and bustle of life.

For example, I am blessed to live somewhere that allows me to sit outside and enjoy the beauty of God's creation without the interruptions of daily life. This blessing has the ripple effect of blessing me with flowers and critters and birds singing and more. It's a tiny thing that I forget until I've had a long week and just need to unplug. Many people have to "get away" but all I have to do is walk out my back door.

Another area I think we often overlook are the "everyday" skills that the Lord has blessed us with, especially those that come so easily to us. I think if I had a beautiful voice or could paint like Bob Ross, I'd remember how blessed I was with those abilities but the Lord has given me talents that are just as uniquely crafted and useful for my purposes. I love that He chose to bless me with creativity from an early age. While it sometimes got me in trouble, like when I accidentally stabbed scissors through my leg as a child or the time I got permanent marker on my mother's kitchen table, my creativity has also allowed me to bless others through design, fashion, sewing and more. I don't often think how blessed I am to have those abilities until someone else mentions how thankful they are for me having them. We often see others' blessings far easier than our own.

Do you often thank God for the small victories of the day? I know I tend to forget those moments by the time I'm saying my evening prayers or when I pull out my gratitude journal in the morning. These little moments often add up to bigger blessings or show provision along the way. For example, I had a tiny victory recently when a very toxic thought came to mind. This was a thought pattern that I've had and fought since I was a child but through God's healing work and tons of prayer I was able to stop the thought AND counter that attack with the truth. Satan's great at convincing us that if we think it it must be true but that's not right. Sometimes I win that fight and sometimes I fall back into old patterns but that day I praised God for a victory that was clearly from Him.

I think the most overlooked moments of gratefulness in my life are the ones that occur in the midst of a tough time. I wrote years ago about being "thankfully disappointed" and a lot of that is through the lens of hindsight. Thankful when things don't go your way because you get a blessing later but what about being grateful for a hard moment? That is a harder prospect for me because often I'm so concerned with fixing the problem that I miss the blessing that can come in spite of it. Not too long ago, though it feels like a lifetime, I had someone whom I truly cared about hurt me in a way that was unexpected and damaging BUT in the midst of this heartache I was able to see how much I had grown and healed. The damaged done didn't illicit the same self-sabotaging or wounding that I would have thrown out five years ago. I didn't spiral as I would have in the past. I could see the reality of the situation and realized that the Lord is still in the restoration business.

Here's the thing that struck me the most about this situation recently... even if this person were to make amends and be a part of my life again, I'm still grateful it happened. Don't get me wrong. This isn't some hindsight 20/20, it wasn't that bad scenario or I'm glad I was treated that way because believe me, I'm not. It was incredibly damaging, overwhelming and truthfully, exhausting. But I can claim Joseph's statement as my own, "What you meant for evil the Lord meant for good." (My paraphrase of Genesis 50:20.) I do think I have benefited from this in the most roundabout way but isn't that just like the Lord? And for that, and all the other ways He chooses to bless me beyond what I deserve, I really am grateful!