Gratefulness

Gratefulness. I know that Thanksgiving was last week, but a lifestyle of giving thanks never ends, and since the ever-lovely Grace from Totally Graced nominated me for the Gratitude Tag, I want to continue to think about gratefulness.




So let's see what these five questions and my rambling mind will reveal about gratefulness!

1. What is your favorite quote or verse that reminds you to be grateful? 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 are go-to when it comes to verses about thankfulness.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 


2. Who are you grateful for? 

Oh, I am grateful for so many people! But I remember thanking God for my family on Thanksgiving, as I do many times, but this time the thanks bloomed a bit more inside of me. I heard the laughter coming from the living room, coming from the joy of togetherness. I thought about how safe and loved and excited I feel about spending time with my family, and I just started crying. What did I do to deserve such a life? How did I earn so many blessings?

Just a moment ago I had felt discontent with life; I felt it to be petty and consumer-oriented, ruining Thanksgiving. But this moment of truth, the moment in which I thought, what if life didn't look like this, changed my day. For I suddenly knew that God gives good gifts, that He is the good gift, and that right here and right now hold so many blessings, blessings that I, in my self-righteousness, would have missed.

So I am grateful for my wonderful family, but mostly for God who reveals Himself to us in little and big ways, turning around the binoculars through which we view life, so that instead of just seeing one spot, we can witness that big picture or His Story all around us!

3. What life events are you thankful for? 

I'm not sure if I ever told this story to the blog, but a few years ago, Dad started a church. He had big dreams and we had great hearts, but for some reason, it didn't work out. For two years, we met in coffee shops or apartment meeting rooms, never more than 40 people, very rarely anyone near my age.

It was a hard time, because I felt isolated. I was home-schooled and now I went to a home church? I didn't give up, but I often wondered why God didn't move the way I thought He should move. I prayed almost every day for those two years that a girl my age would come, be my friend, and encourage me in the faith. But God answered in another way, and we stopped the church and started going to an established church where I learned much but still didn't make friends.

It's taken me a while to be truly thankful for that time in life, and I'm still not completely there yet. I don't regret it, and I trust God's story, but I've realized lately that I haven't thanked God much for that time in my life.

But I should.

Because during that time I learned, or rather, God taught me, so much. He taught me how to trust Him. He taught me how to let Him be my friend even when I didn't have many other friends in my life. He taught me how to be myself independent of a crowd of friends.He taught me more about the church's mission. And those lessons, those two confusing years, shaped me and brought me into this next part of God's story in my life, college.

And so I'm grateful for the two years where we didn't have control and couldn't see the end because God taught me that He can see the end, and that His plan is best.

That was a long answer.

Another!

4. What is something that you are grateful for but oftentimes don't think about? 

I could say the obvious answers like health, food, and housing, but I actually do think about those things, and so I'll go a bit deeper.

Lately I've been very thankful that God is a God who reveals Himself to us. The ability to know God's character amazes me, and reading C. S. Lewis' book Till We Have Faces, made me appreciate a known God even more. Even more than that, God's character never changes! And so who He was in Genesis is the same today. The God who parted the Red Sea led Dad to start a church. The God who rose back to life by His own power is with me!



5. What are you going to do to show people that you are grateful for them? 

Tell them so.

In the form of a lovely little Christmas card, of course! I love making cards (see my go-to way for DIY cards), and this Christmas I want to make lots of cards for everyone in my life! The outside of the card is fun to craft, but the inside is where I love to pour my heart out and remind that person how much they mean to me and to God!

But I have another idea too! I want to show gratitude to everyone who reads this blog, because I truly am thankful for y'all! And so, to everyone who comments on this post or regularly comments on the blog, check your inboxes, because I will write you a little virtual Christmas card just to say hi and get to know all of you a bit more!

So comment below and make sure to let gratefulness bloom a bit more inside of you today! Have a splendid rest of the week and good luck on any tests and finals coming up!

Princess Hannah