Good Morning Friends,
The clocks have been changed, the evenings are getting darker, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner! My heart has been full of thankfulness and gratitude these past few days and weeks. Just a couple days ago I had a conversation about gratitude with a little five year old. I love talking to kids… they can teach us so much sometimes. I learned something from our conversation – and our dialogue was too cute not to share! Our conversation went something like this:
Me: Do you know what holiday we celebrate this month?
Abigail: Thanksgiving!
Me: You’re right. What do we do on Thanksgiving?
Abigail: Eat Turkey?!
Me: (Smiling) Yes, we eat Turkey. We also take time to remember what we are thankful for. What are you are thankful for, Abigail?
Abigail: YOU!!
Me: Awww, I’m thankful for you too…. what else?
(We both list things we are thankful for… and then…)
Abigail: My boyfriend, Emerson… but I never get to see him anymore (her face gets sad). We used to go on play dates together…. I really miss him (her voice is quivering at this point).
Me: (Trying hard to stay composed) It’s okay, Abigail, you’ll make new friends!!
The rest of our conversation I tried to console Abigail about the loss of her friend – while trying not to smile at the thought of my little friend looking so mournful over the loss of a “boyfriend.” Even in the midst of all our bountiful blessings we always find something to mourn about. Our conversation reminded me that what we focus on will impact how we feel. Abigail was happy talking about her joys, but as soon as she started thinking about the loss of her friend, it was hard to get her smiling again. I am not trying to minimize the very real feelings of children, but it is amazing that even at such a young age, our thoughts affect our emotions.
Focusing on the wrong things can make sad and discouraged. Being grateful and focusing on our blessings produces joy in our hearts.
Our thoughts determine our emotions!
We should really focus on being grateful all year long, however, I’m sure you will agree that is much easier to be thankful when we know Thanksgiving is approaching. Because gratitude has been on my mind lately I decided to compile this simple list of ways to add more gratitude to your day – any time of year!
6 Ways to Add Gratitude to Your Day
Praise God During Your Devotions
“Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.” Psalm 95:2
The best time to add a little gratitude and thankfulness to your day is during your time with God. Take a few minutes to thank the Lord for all He has done in your life. Compose a list of things you are grateful for and tell God “thank you!” Come before His presence with thanksgiving!
→ Read this Related Post: 6 Tips for Daily Devotions
Meditate on Scripture
“O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97
The Bible (especially in the book of Psalms) is filled with verses and songs of praise to our God. Take a little time to copy down some of the verses and personalize them. Fill your heart will words of praise from God’s Word and you will find your heart being filled with gratitude and joy.
Speak of Your Blessings
“I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise the among much people.” Psalm 35:18
“Let my mouth be filled with thy praise…” Psalm 71:8
Learn to speak of your blessings and speak of them often. Talking about the things that make us smile and add life to our days will, as a result, make us more grateful for them. Instead of talking about the things that bring us down and stress us out, we should make the effort to speak of all the blessings God has given us!
Get Others Talking About Their Blessings
“Rejoice with them that do rejoice…” Romans 12:15
Ask your friends what they are grateful for. Get them speaking and talking about their joys and blessings. Gratitude and joy are contagious. Get the praise started and spend time rejoicing with your friends and family – it won’t take long for you to see and feel the contagiousness of gratitude.
Write a Thank You Note
Jot a simple note of gratitude to someone who has been a blessing to you. It will brighten their day! Just writing words of thankfulness to someone else will fill you with more gratitude as well. The simple act of writing a thank you note can bring joy to someone else’s day and will help the gratitude spread.
Read a Book on Gratitude
I didn’t realize the significance or importance of gratitude until I read the book Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh Demoss. This book changed the way I think about gratitude and joy. You cannot have one without the other! After reading this book, I made a much greater effort to add gratitude to my life. I would definitely recommend this book!
I Would Love To Know
What are you thankful for?
How do you add gratitude to your day?
Feel free to leave me a comment below! I love hearing from my readers. ♥
The timing of this post is perfect 🙂 This morning I was forced to take some time to sit still and just think. (It took a dentist appointment 😄 there’s so much going on with school and home life that there’s rarely that chance!) Being quiet and reflecting on what the Lord has done and where He’s brought us–through a recent trial, over the past year, etc.–helps foster gratitude. It’s so wonderful to get up with a light heart, joy bubbling over, and a smile on your face!
Emily, I’m so glad you were able to sit and reflect today – it’s so wonderful when we take the time to sit and think! God has blessed us with so much and being grateful really does lighten our hearts! Thank you for sharing!
Oh my goodness, this was EXACTLY what I needed today!! I just wrote a blog post on my own blog yesterday on the topic of gratitude. This past year my joy has just clearly been lacking from my life, and I finally confronted the problem head on: I was not thankful, I was complaining, and I was dissatisfied. So I spilled my heart out on my blog and discussed one of the big areas were I was not exercising gratitude: my writing. I’ve been saying things like “Oh, I hate my writing, it’s terrible” for quite a while, and I finally realized that I was not being thankful for the ability God had given me! And my next blog post was going to be about “ways we can be thankful.” So this post was PERFECT and has prompted me to start thinking about the ways I can encourage thankfulness in my own life! Thank you so much, Rebekah — God is using you!!
Oh, and one more thing! 😉 Have you tried a gratitude journal before? If so, could you do a post on how exactly you use your gratitude journal and what you write in it? Thanks so much!! 🙂 <3
Good for you! I am glad you were able to identify the reason why you were lacking joy. Now you know what you need to do to be joyful again – get busy thanking and praising the Lord! I’m glad this post was helpful… keep thinking of ways to add gratitude and praise to your life 🙂
I don’t have “gratitude journal” per say… but I do like to make gratitude lists in either my personal journal or spiritual journal (I will probably combine the two journals eventually). Would a post about journaling interest you?
Yes I would love to read a post about journaling! 🙂 I love journals and have a ton of them, but I have 3 I haven’t used yet so I’m thinking about maybe using one as a gratitude journal. I’ve seen the idea of a gratitude journal on Pinterest a lot, and it looks like something that would really be helpful for me, as well as something I love to do. Or I may just combine it with my prayer journal, since the prayer journal I’m currently using is almost filled up and I need a new one and gratitude is a part of prayer too 😉 But yes, a post about journaling would be awesome 🙂
I can relate…. I have a lot of notebooks/journals too. I’m trying to combine them though…. For me it’s simpler that way!
I will definitely consider doing a post on journaling. I have an old blog post on journaling somewhere in the archives. If you search “journaling” I think you will find it.
The other day I was feeling very sad about all the things that were going wrong in my life, or were not going as planned. I was grumpy and depressed. When I realised that what I was focusing on was making me feel like that, I shut myself in my room and started praying. Then I realised that I needed to write a list of things I was thankful for, because I needed reminding! It was already night time when I did that, but it totally turned my day upside down! So this post is so relevant to me. Actually, it’s relevant to everyone! Everyone would be so much more joyful if they counted their blessings! 😀
Btw, while we’re suggesting blog posts, I was wondering if you would create a post that shares all the things you achieved from your 2016 New Year’s Resolution? I’d love to see how God has been working through you this year! I know it’s a while yet before New Years, but I just wanted to get in early! 😉
Wow! You’re forward thinking like me 😉 I just started writing that post the other day! This has been an incredible year for me and I have learned a lot – I will share that post at the end of December.
Do you girls like posts that are more Bible study-ish (pardon the “ish”) or ones where I share more personal examples (like this one) and stuff from my life?
Awesome! I can’t wait! 😀 I love seeing what people have accomplished throughout the year and how things turned out differently than expected. 🙂
Hmm, I think I like the more personal ones a little more, because it feels relatable. The study-ish (XD) posts are great to refer to as well, though.
I am excited to share about my year! 🙂
Thanks for the input… That is really helpful ☺️
I’ll just say, I especially love the personal examples and the posts with a lot of practical application! 🙂 But I love all of the posts on this blog 🙂
Thanks…. That is helpful to know ☺️
Thank you for your posts!
I am thankful to God for His everlasting presence in my life. With each passing moment when I wake up to meet with the Lord in the secret place (Psalms 91:1) He shows up…The creator of Heaven and earth meets me on a daily basis…His constant affection towards me is amazing!
His presence, His existence, His love… (even without mentioning He has done but who He is) is what I’m truly grateful.
I encourage everyone to get into a lifestyle of putting Him first, all these things shall follow (Matthew 6: 33)…
Stay blessed!
Yes, it’s so important to put Him first! Thanks for the reminder 🙂
This is perfect! I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude lately as well, and not just because Thanksgiving is around the corner! lol It really is amazing how having a grateful heart and focusing on your blessings can totally turn your perspective around!
Yes!! So true 🙂 🙂
Today I am thankful to be on the road to recovery. Last Wednesday I had surgery to remove a pretty good size tumor from my hand. I took my bandage off yesterday and able to move my finger with 16 stitches without as much pain as I had expected. Thankful for my friends and family that have helped me with such simple tasks during the recovery process.
I am also thankful for my job. I graduated nursing school in June, worked on a temporary license for three months, took my state boards and did not pass by one subject. By the Grace of God the facility I work at offered me a different temporary position so I would have a job until I tested again. This is also a lot easier to return to post op than nursing would have been.
I am thankful for that tumor and not passing boards first try because it has taught me how to rely and depend and trust in God and His perfect plan instead of my own.
I am also thankful for being able to see my brother compete in Grand Nationals with band, and our safe journey there and back.
Those are just a few things I am thankful for. 🙂
Hi Rebecca -nice name by the way 😉
Thanks so much for sharing… I wish you a very speedy recovery!! Isn’t it amazing how God words things out? Keep trusting Him and following His perfect plan for your life. His ways are always best. Thanks for reading my blog and leaving a comment, it was fantastic hearing from you!
(Also, congrats to your brother!)
Rebekah
Thank You so much!! It is all amazing how God works everything out for us without us even seeing it sometimes!
You are so right. Thank you for posting in your blog and being such a faithful and encouraging woman of God. I look forward to reading it every day. (Now that I have discovered it)
Thank You so much!! It is all amazing how God works everything out for us without us even seeing it every time!
You are so right. Thank you for posting in your blog and being such a faithful and encouraging woman of God. I look forward to reading it every day. (Now that I have discovered it)
I’m so glad you discovered my blog 😊
Loved the post on bad habits Christians need to loose… and read some of your other posts as well, not disappointed. Keep on keeping on.
Ronel
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!