Art of Gratitude

“to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has blessed us in the Beloved” Eph 1:6

“Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, b but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Eph 5:4

Sometimes living an “Abraham or 72” kind of faith life can be a rigorous battle. It goes against the concept of the American Dream Life, and you find yourself the odd man out in many circles. However, the peace and joy of knowing Christ more and more far surpasses all that. I admit that I am far less than most and really have no special take on following Christ. All I can say is that it is my life now, and the life my kids and wife partner with me. For the past 15 years or so I have tried to give my life over to a power bigger than me. To learn what it means to pick up a cross daily. I am learning some things, I am failing at some things. But one thing area of battle that has been a big source of tension over the past couple years is that of my attitude. Honestly at times it has stunk pretty badly. I find myself continually surrendering that to God and trusting in His strength to be perfect in my weakness. There are many ways I work at this -- one is continual prayer and bible intake of course. But another helpful tool and my newest endeavor is to write a Gratitude Journal. I am not big on journaling and never really have been, so this is a stretch and good spiritual discipline for me to practice. Put simply, I intentionally write down every day at least one thing to be thankful for. I have missed some days but mostly it has been a consistent thing in my life the past 2 months. When your faith journey takes you down the road ours has been, there is ample room for discouragement, disappointment, and let downs; but there are also moments and seasons of joy. I have found that practicing gratitude helps me winter through the down times. I wish I had started doing this years ago. Someone said once in a worship gathering that if we all just started giving God praise and thanksgiving for everything good He has blessed us with, there would not be enough time in the week or maybe the year for all of us to finish. We can never out-thank God for what he is doing in our lives, or at least I don’t think we can yet. But I am going to try. Because the more I do it, the more it correctly focuses me on God, reshapes my perception of current circumstances, builds my faith, helps me to be a stronger spiritual leader in my family, enhances my witness to my community, and it helps me be completely honest about myself. For example, yesterday’s entry was this: “I am thankful for my wife who shows me grace, even when I act like a donkey’s butt.” And if you know me, that is something to be thankful for.

So please join me in the practice of gratitude.

Blessings

Jeromy