My breath fogs up the mirror. I swipe another coat of mascara on my lashes.
“Thank you that my skin isn’t broken out today.”
I step back to examine my attempt at dreamy eyes.
“Thank you that my hair doesn’t look strange, even with all the humidity.”
“Thank you for my dear friends. This heart of mine is full with their love for me. Thank you for sending them my way. I need each of them and you knew that.”
He heard my year old prayers to send me real friends.
I check my phone for the time.
“Thank you for sound sleep last night with no bad dreams. And the opportunity to serve you today.”
“Oh and that new opportunity that you’ve brought out of the blue, that was amazing. I’m blown away by your provision. Thank you, Lord.”
___________________________________________
My morning routine has changed. Not with a new loofah or hairbrush, but how I dress my mind. Instead of waking up asking for things, nervous about the day, trying to control my circumstances with rapid gunfire prayers towards heaven, I turn my heart toward grateful.
I acknowledge the small that can break my day or make my attitude.
I like a good ‘if, then’ statement and this one’s a keeper. “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then, call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” – Psalm 50: 14 & 15
My goal is simple. To give God glory. But sometimes I make it more complicated that it needs to be. I love when He reveals to me how to do the desire of my heart. The one He planted there long ago.
Not blood or sweat or try-hard sacrifice, but thankfulness. That’s all Jesus wants from me.
{That can be hard to swallow. Take a moment a try to believe that. Do you really? Or does the good girl list creep in. “Surely, that’s not all the God of the Universe needs. He’ll need more.” Well, He doesn’t.}
A thankful heart for the big, and most definitely the very small, is rescuing me from the ordinary life. And could rescue me from trouble in the future.
Let’s give Him glory, girls. Will you share your sacrifice of thankfulness to God? {I’d love to read one thing from you today.}
Leave a Comment
What beautiful truth–oh, the blessings of a grateful heart! I love the idea of making praise and thankfulness to God the first thing I do in the morning–will have to give that a try! Today I’m especially thankful for the opportunity to grow closer to the Lord and to learn more about Him, especially through His Word and to feel His presence! Thank you so much for the wonderful inspiration, something else to be grateful for! Blessings!
Thank you for the reminder to be thankful! So often I hear myself when I pray and I think it sounds too much like a shopping list. But just be thankful – I love that! it’s too easy to over complicate things :o) bless you!
Thank you for reminding us to be thankful to God. Even in hard circumstance it helps to thank God for even the small things and this in turn helps us realise God is always with us.
Great reminder and suggestion to start off our day with thankfulness. Often at night as I drift off to sleep I verbally recount my day as a pray of thankfulness to God. Going through each occurrence lifting it up to him… Thank you that we got out on time today, thank you that the kids are finding their grove in swimming, etc. I do however throw in one or 2 things I need Him to take off my shoulders so I don’t go to sleep with with bottled up emotions; I will likely forget to bring it to his feet come morning devotional time. I have come to find an attitude of gratefulness developing as a result.
Thanking God during the hardest of times. Giving the sacrifice of thankfulness and praise works miracles in itself, bringing peace and taking fear away. Thankful for the opportunities to be a witness for Him, through my testimony of my Father’s loving kindness and mercy. Thankful for the opportunity to serve one I love, helping to travel down a difficult path toward heavenly reward. Thankful for the uncountable ways He is showing himself to us!! Thankful for each moment spent together, and thankful for a lifetime of love.
Isn’t it amazing how such a little change can make such a huge difference? I consistently try to make things harder than they are…
But this morning I’m thankful for a husband who is willing to let me blog and read and comment in the mornings while he and our kiddo hang out and make breakfast.
I actually just posted about my struggle with this very thing. I am trying to retrain my mind to keep out the lies from Satan that I so easily believe, and fill it instead with the Truth of God, full of thanksgiving. Right now, this very moment, I am thankfully listening to my 2 year old sitting on the floor behind me singing along with a Charlie Brown Christmas book.
Thank you so much for this!
Megan @ wwwsunshinethroughthewindows.blogspot.com
Focusing on those little things are what truly help find your happy within…My problem is that perhaps I need to verbalize it more to Him. This morning I am thankful for excedrin with having awoken with a migraine. I don’t think I need to say more…
It’s funny (ie amazing) how God works. I have been struggling with wanting more – a nicer house, a better job, etc. – a lot lately. I decided this morning that I woud try to focus on the many, many blessings God has given me instead of chasing after things that don’t matter. God has used your words today to reassure me that He is in fact looking after me and that, yes, I have been blessed beyond measure. Thank you!
I’m thankful for His constant provision, loving friends, a supportive family, and new adventures.
I am thankful for His Word, and that even when we doubt and question, God shows us how He works all things together. I am thankful too, that He continues to strengthen my faith and shows me so many blessings!
I’m grateful for…
~An interview for a virtual assistant position
~Friends to laugh with every day
~Opportunity to be challenged in my views
~Time to relax and enjoy life.
Thanks for the article, I needed to start giving God the credit instead of just being happy. 🙂
Sometimes my heart hurts with amazement of how good God is to me?To know where I am in my life is here God has planned it from all beginning. I’m overwhelmed! And grateful for sure.
I’m thankful for the people who advise me. They help to challenge me, make me look good and soothe my fears.
I love this, Stephanie! Redressing the mind is a beautiful way to put it, especially as women when our mornings are so often a hurried blur leaving us to walk through a day with mind chatter winning the best of us. I’ve learned that quitet mindfulness first thing in the morning, even if only a couple minutes is priceless and opens us up for so many gifts.
Ruthie Lewis
Author, Speaker, Life Coach
http://www.RuthieLewis.com
I decided a long time ago that if God never did another thing for me, that what Jesus did for me on the cross was enough. It’s good to be reminded of that every now and then, because it is true. Everything else is wonderful and a beautiful reminder that I am His beloved, but I am most grateful for my salvation and my adoption.
Thank you, Stephanie, for these sweet words. What a beautiful reminder! God is so wonderful, and I am so very blessed by Him! I love the thought of overwhelmingly giving Him thanks each morning!
Today I am so very thankful for my three sweet nieces. One was sick in the hospital last week, and she is better and home now. Praise the Lord!!! They bring such life, joy, giggles, grins, happiness, blessing, and love to our family. Thank You, Father!!!!!!!
What a beautiful message! I especially love the make thankfullness quote. I have printed it out and put it in a spot where I can read it several times a day!
Thank you, and God Bless!!!
I am thankful for some healthy grandsons! I’m going today and play with them!
I appreciate your drawing me to thankfulness. I am in a bad place financially and can’t see my way out short of God stepping in. I KNOW HE will. I am trying to get all the legwork done so He can!
Thanks again. Be thankful in all things!
I am thankful for a good nights sleep and a few more days before our homeschool starts to prepare and enjoy the free time.
I am working on praying more “thankfully” instead of just giving God a “to do” list. I think there is a fine line there though – He does tell us to ask for our needs to be met, so I don’t want to go totally to the opposite extreme – being afraid to ask. I am definitely a work in progress.
This morning I am thankful for – my job, a break in the extremely hot weather we have been having, coffee, Joy FM (our local Christian music station) and my church home. (amongst other things!)
Thank you God that my son is still alive for where there is life there is room for a miracle. Thank you for the profession of faith he made so many years ago. May the Holy Spirit awaken the tiny spark that I know has to still be there even after all he has said and done. Most of God, Thank you for loving him even more than I do and watching over him and keeping him safe thus far. Amen
That is the second or third time this morning that I have been reminded to be thankful! I get the message, Lord. I’ve been aggravated and short-tempered and just all around cranky the last few days. Once I began thanking God for all the things around me, my whole outlook changed! Whining and praise cannot come out of the mouth at the same time. I get to choose which one I’ll do. Great reminder to praise Him and thank Him first thing in the morning. Set your day up right, moving forward in the right direction is SO important. Thank you, Stephanie!
So thankful for Skype ! and being able to skype my daughter and 2 grandchildren who live 16 hours away! Glad to be able to hold one grandchild here and talk to the others at the same time . God has been so gracious to me! Also …very thankful for these words of your’s to greet my morning ! Bless you !
What a beautiful perspective! Thank you! I’m in the midst of packing up our things, along side my wonderful husband & our 4 precious kids & having to move out of our rental home simply because we cannot afford it. We will be living with my sweet mom in her 2 bedroom condo until we find a house. God has shown me in great measures what true gratitude means & being thankful no matter where we are or what our living arrangements are. To have a loving husband, 4 incredible children , & our health is more then we could ask or imagine! Onward & upward we go basking thankfulness to our almighty father & king!!
I love that Psalm! What a wonderful reminder to be {thankful} before anything else. When I kneel down in prayer first thing every morning and last thing every night I remember to be thankful ~ and thank Him!~ for all things great and small, good and bad. We have to remember that the Lord God Almighty is just that….the Lord God Almighty!…who controls everything in the heavens and on the earth and has a fierce love for all who walk in obedience to Him. That doesn’t mean we are perfect. That means we depend on him and let him guide us in his ways. Wow, I could just keep going on! lol Thanks Stephanie! Bless you 🙂
That’s my favorite thing about gratitude too. The more we offer it, the more we find… and the bigger God gets!
In real time. I read this, loved the verse, prayed, realized I could apply it immediately and did so, asking a question and listening prayerfully to the answer. Calling on God for his answer while listening to the other talk. Trusting a man can be hard, but trusting the Lord behind and above the man is right. I want to print out the verse and hang it on my wall. Thank you for starting with fulfill your vows to the Lord. Rejoicing in him today!
I was reminded twice,this morning to have faith and to be thankful. Thank you for being a vessel for the Word. I am grateful for my daughters health,a roof over our heads and my job. just to name a few
We buried my best friend on friday. I had moved to a new community 19 and was in a place of lonliness and asking God to teach me how to play and be present to the moment. He gave me all of those things in this wonderful friend. Although heart broken, in burying her all I could think of was-thank you, thank you.
Praying comfort over you, Mary. And joy with you at having had such a gift of a friendship.
What a provider! Everyday. Thanking Him for my newly doubled job-role at work, not for the double part, but for providing me the role and preparing me for it. He will also help me prioritize and keep balance, which I need all His help for and I pray for often. I’m also so thankful to Him that I work for an employer who allows us to meet in small groups to study His Word everyday during lunch hours. When I get frustrated with my work situation and it’s time pressures, I cannot dwell in that frustration long before recalling just how well He provides! Thank you Lord!
Someone once said to me God doesn’t call us to be successful only faithful. I think I would also add thankful to that! Today I am most thankful for being needed at work and the opportunity to work more hours for the next few weeks(my hours had been cut previously). I am also thankful for a roof over my head, a husband who loves me and grandchildren who like to spend time hanging out with me. Thank you Father God for all those things and many more.
Great verse!!
Dear God, thank you so much that I can run and feel your breath on my face, that I wake up next to a loving husband, and that I have 2 kiddos to pour my love into!
i’ve been married 37 years, today, to the greatest gift (besides my 2 children,gr’children) that God could have ever given me. even tho i made many bad choices before i met him, i was blessed with someone who’s love blows me away every day! at this moment i realize that who i’ve been living with all these years is ‘Jesus in disguise’…..wow! grace & mercy to all you bloggers today!
Filled with thanks just for waking up with my husband today –
I’m thankful for good sleep last night. New hope i see today. The help God is giving me. The encouragement I’ve been receiving and everything good in my life. Thank you Lord for teaching me how to keep my eyes on you and off of me and others. Thank you that you are teaching me how to recognize and obey your voice. Thank you that I have breath and your merciful and not finished with me yet. Thank you for forgiving me and helping me to forgive myself and others. Thank you for keeping evil from me and blessing on me. Thank you for loving me.
I am thankful that, with all the things my mind try’s to tell me and my flesh try’s to make real, the Holy Spirit of God has overcome it all and I am seen as His Righteous Daughter, incorruptible,loving and worthy of His time. I only want to make sure He is my great I am forevermore and not allow anything to take honor above Him! thankful for freedom through His resurrection !
Dressing myself with thankfulness . . . . exactly what I was being challenged with this morning from Col 3 . . . . . Put on is what it says!!!!! with teaching, admonishing, being thankful, and singing!!!!! All present tense active . . . . . . It means continually in the moment doing these . . . . . .. Thank you Father for showing me how to live!!!
Dear Lord, thank you for this blog and the lovely women who own it. It opens my mind to the simplest of things. Things so simple that I should see them myself. Thank you.
I find it so hard to have an attitude of thankfulness. I tend to look around at the problems surrounding me and focus on the how and the why. My niece is 27 w/ 3 girls. She is dying from cancer. They are calling family in to say their goodbyes. I live too far away to get there by car and tickets are expensive. But I still need to be thankful. Thankful that she has a husband that is taking care of her. Thankful that I have been able to videochat with them. Doesn’t mean I can’t be sad. But I can still find reasons to thank God. I will praise you in the storm!
What a great perspective: gratitude rescues us from everything that drives us nuts. It really does! I know I lean into it hardest when I’m frustrated with my kids… and it vents off the volcanic build-up in my mind!
I am thankful for a car that goes in reverse, for my younger sister, and for the love of a good man
Stephanie,
I love the translation for these verses!
Which one is it?
“Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then, call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” – Psalm 50: 14 & 15
Thinking about adding them to my livingroom wall. 🙂
Thanks,
Diane
I’m thankful for the much needed rain that poured upon us in the night. I’m thankful for safety for my children as they traveled to their grandparents. I’m thankful for time with my dear husband!
Thank you for writing those words for me to hear (read) just when I needed them. Thank you Lord that you are in all the minute details of our life. thank you for the blessings of this blog
I am in the process of embarking on a Christian master’s degree. I have two options, one of which is very important but extremely scary for me due to distance of move and anticipated costs- and I don’t want to make the wrong choice and limit myself in any way for God! I have been waking up from nightmares and at 3- and 4-a.m. for the past couple of weeks, but today I awoke at 5 and just decided to take a walk and praise God for a safe bed, a clean room to rent, enough food for the day, etc., and to ask Him- yet again- to carry this for me. I have deadlines, timelines, documents to find and send, a smashed car to dispose of (very sad), boxes to get, trucks, people, and myself to arrange and all hung in limbo… and a part time job… but I want to do what He wants, and today I just decided I can wait and whoever else might not be able to well… Wow… I’m so thankful, thankful, thankful for all that I have *today.*
Thanks so much for this. I have been practicing this discipline since I read “One Thousand Gifts” and it has been pure joy! I think I will make a wall hanging of that Psalm 50 passage too!
I am so thankful that He chose me!
I could not be more thankful that my 9 year old daughter will have a God centered /loving teacher for 4th grade this year:0)!!
I love a thankful heart and have been trying to pass it on to my girls – gotta train ’em when they are young! They have a thankful journal and each day they thank God for something or someone and then draw a picture to coincide with it. It just helps all of us to begin our day with a smile and knowing God is there every step (or stumble) of the way 🙂 My thankfulness for yesterday was when my hubby dropped his wallet at a store and someone turned it into the store manager and nothing was missing!!!!!!!
To think the God of the universe “needs” anything from me seems awfully pretentious. Like the clay pot needing more of it’s creator. The fact that God wants relationship with me, just one of so, so many He has created through time, blows me away. Need from me? No, I’m sure he’d do just fine without me. Is He happier when one of His creation chooses to live in communion with Him? I have no doubt.
Janet
I’m thankful for a wonderful and gracious church family. A family that’s strong in prayer, encouraging, loving, understanding and gracious. I’m sure you all could say the same but we just came home from an few days of “Family Camp” a camp our church has each year in August to get away from the everyday life and take time to praise God, play and to strengthen our famlies. It’s such a blessing to spend three days with these wonderful families.
Wonderful post, Stephanie. Thanks for that. I, too, am trying to be more purposeful about cultivating a grateful heart. Today I’m thankful that He’s constant; when I’m distracted and distraught, He’s steady and unwavering; faithful.
Thankful for my 4 year old son’s miracle remission from the cancer (leukemia) he had as an infant! Thankful for a fun-loving husband! And thankful they both love me so much 🙂
Thankful for my 4 year old son’s miracle remission from the cancer (leukemia) he had as an infant! Thankful for a fun-loving husband! And thankful they both love me so much!
Refreshing post. Thank you for sharing and reminding us to give God our thanks.
Thank you for the reminder to be grateful (for everything as God reminds us in His word the Bible).
I can’t thank God enough for Jesus and the gift of my family – GREAT blessings that I often take for granted.
“I will praise you in this storm.” I need to learn to be more grateful and thank God in every situation, even he bad. I take so much for granted. Thank you!
Just what I needed, right when I needed it. 🙂 Thank you, sweet servant, and thank you Jesus.
Sheila
I am ABSOLUTELY grateful that He gives us beauty for ashes,….. that he allows me to speak out of His heart rather than mine which is totally under “re~construction” ~ and for THAT ,…. I am FOREVER grateful !!!
In the midst of all the uncertainty in my life right now, with a, what seems a divorce looming in the air……God’s will is all I want, not what I want, but what God wants from me. There are times when I feel so defeated, yet I hang and cling with white knuckled fingers to the Hem of His Garment, knowing he is in total control of My Life and I Trust Him Completely.
Simply beautiful. I agree that starting my day thanking God brings such joy to my morning. Thank you for articulating it.
Wow! This is awesome! I love the verse . It’s funny cause lately I wake up with songs in my mind about thanksgiving. Today I woke up with an old song we use to sing in church back when I was younger. It goes “we bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord we bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord” and today I read the incourage and talking bout giving thanks. I know God is speaking and wants thankful heart! Thank you for this it’s awesome!
This is awesome! Lately been waking up to songs about thanksgiving. Today woke up with a song that use to sing in church when I was younger. Goes like this ” we bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord we bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord “. I know the Lord wants a thankful heart. Thank you for this it definitely spoke to me.
I am an emotional person & they swing wide to left or right. To keep myself on the narrow I have a computerized thankful list. I start by listing EVERYTHING I’m thankful for from the small –house, car, church, etc. to big–Jesus dying for me, God, Bible, etc. Then each day I type in the things I’m thankful for that day. It keeps me in perspective.
I pray at night and start my prayers with thanks and praise to God for many things–then I feel comfortable asking for assistance or prayers for friends and family!
I just wanted to say that 3 days later, this message is still with me. My morning didn’t start off too great, and when I was making my breakfast, I was just about to start whining to my husband about what an awful, no good day it was going to be.
I stopped myself before the words came out and counted my blessings that I am alive and well today. I feel that if I had said that it was going to be a bad day, I was going to make it into a bad day.
While my day continued in a not-so-good way, I’m still not letting it get to me. I’m going to continue counting my blessings and thanking God for everything that he has done for me. I am grateful!
Oh wow! So simple and yet so powerful. Great reminder.
Thank you for reminding us of the need to thank God. If we sit down and think for a moment of all He has done for us, we will know that there is a need for us to give Him thanks, and that reminds me of what King David in Psalm 103 : 1-22 says; I will just give us vv1-5 says, Bless the Lord o my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefts; who forgives us all our iniquities, who heals all our diseases, who redeems our life from destruction, who crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Who satisfies our mouth with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s. So with these and many more we need to give Him thanks.
I am grateful for a job that has a consistent paycheck & for a family to enjoy.
I am grateful for a job that has a consistent paycheck.
I am so very thankful and grateful for His patience with me. I’m beyond thankful that He will never give up on me!