An attitude of gratitude

At the start of this new year I felt called by God to try something I had come across in a few blogs. You choose a word (prayerfully!) and use it to hang your thoughts, journal and ideas for the year. A lot of people I have read about have seen it really transform their life, so I thought I would give it a go! The word I chose was GRATITUDE. So this week I have started 52 weeks of gratitude, and I will attempt to share some of my ponderings with you! 

 
The first week asks why start this challenge? Well gratitude is a great thing to exercise. The talks time and time again about giving thanks. But how often when we pray are we guilty of giving thanks to God as a pre-curser to the main event.....asking for what we want. 

Having an attitude of gratitude is something that I believe could completely change my faith, my marriage, my ministry and my relationships. When we go through our life looking for opportunities to give thanks, we can't help but also see love, joy and peace. 

To be honest, there were moments of last year that were really, really difficult. There were times when the dark clouds seemed to eclipse the rays of joy. However I chose to be thankful. I  chose to have faith that God had it covered, and praise the Lord, he did!

Is life rosy? Certainly not! 
Do I always feel like God is listening? No! and there are situations that are really painful for my husband and I 
Is is always easy to give thanks? Definitely not, but in the bible we see fantastic examples of how an attitude of gratitude leads to Joy. 

So this year I chose one year to focus my thoughts... Gratitude, and I am excited to hear God speaking and observing, with an attitude of gratitude, how life will be full, to overflowing, with Joy! 


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