By: Jenifer Metzger
Years ago I began following the precious Ann Voskamp and her Joy Dare. This is where she listed her blessings and challenged us to do likewise. The practice was beautiful and I felt compelled to join in. I began counting my blessings each week on my own blog. At first the practice was easy enough. I am thankful for my husband, my children, our health, and our home. After awhile of this, it got a little harder. I had already listed the people and things important to me. I considered stopping the Joy Dare on my blog. Yet, I felt God wanting me to continue, after all, thankfulness is important to Him.
I began to thank God for everything I could think of. I was thankful for dishes in the sink, it meant my family had food to eat. I was thankful for mountains of laundry, it meant my family had clothing to wear. I was thankful for paying the car insurance, it meant we had a car and insurance. I was even thankful for being weary at the end of the day, it meant my day was full with love and activities.
I found two things by doing this. One, I found contentment. When we praise God, we begin to be happy with what we have. We don't wish for a larger house or bigger car because we are thankful for the house and car we have. And two, I found it harder to complain. When we praise God, grumbling and complaining dissipates. It's hard to complain about those dirty dishes when we are praising God for providing the food and family that dirtied the dishes.
Give thanks in everything;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Years later and I am not only still counting my sweet blessings from God on my blog, but I make it a practice to daily thank God. I want to cultivate thanksgiving in my life, I want to give thanks in everything.
When you feel discontentment creeping in, when you feel yourself starting to grumble and complain, stop and praise God. Praise Him for everything, for this is His will for you.
It's time for Share A Link Wednesday! Each Wednesday we invite you to leave a link to your latest blog post in the comments. We still desire to connect women of God with one another and encourage each other in Christ. So grab a cup of coffee or glass of sweet tea, sit back and visit a few blogs. Be encouraged and share your own stories.
Gratitude has rescued me so many times!
ReplyDeleteStill counting!
And today I'm writing about discernment via Hannah Anderson's great book: All That's Good.
https://michelemorin.net/2019/11/20/discernment-good-true-beautiful/
Jenifer, so glad you shared this as I have felt to re-read Ann's book and to start a gratitude journal in 2020. :)
ReplyDeleteMy post today: http://www.joanneviola.com/2019/11/our-doubts-and-questions/
When we compare what we have now, even just the basis, with what folks had 50-100 years ago, it would look like we're living in luxury compared to them. I love that gratitude is not only helpful and right in itself, but it leads to contentment.
ReplyDeleteI wrote this week about having a hard time when the trees go bare, yet learning from them: https://barbarah.wordpress.com/2019/11/18/what-i-learned-from-bare-trees/
(I think a partial comment went through when I accidentally clicked the publish button too soon--if so, please just delete that one. :-) Thank you!)
"When we praise God, grumbling and complaining dissipates." This is so true. I just need to live my life like this everyday. I wrote about Thanksgiving traditions to start with your family, http://keepingthetiethatbinds.com/2019/11/19/6-thanksgiving-traditions-for-your-family/
ReplyDeleteKeeping a gratitude journal has been life changing for me as well!
ReplyDelete