More Than an Attitude of Gratitude

Mid-February seems to be an appropriate time to reflect on my scripture for this year. In years past, my New Year's resolutions would likely by now be forgotten or pushed aside in terms of intentionality. However, since I began choosing a scripture passage for my New Year, I am revisiting it regularly.  

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7

I was reading something today that reminded me of a portion of this passage that might be (or at least in my humanness) likely overlooked. "With thanksgiving..."  How crucial this is!  I am a woman drawn to prayer:  regular conversation with God and intercession as well.  I do try to remember to be thankful on a regular basis. But the more that I learn about my make-up, the more that I realize how prone I am to seeing the deficits.  When I see the deficits, I am more likely to complain...or have a negative attitude.  It's not lovely.  I don't like it. But it's part of my nature.  Therefore, it is all the more necessary that I become deliberate about thanksgiving.

It is not enough to " try to remember to be thankful "as I stated earlier.  There must be action attached or it isn't living, breathing, and growing!  As Brené Brown explains, " It seems that gratitude without practice may be a little like faith without works--it's not alive." And how can I possibly expect for my children to grow into truly thankful people unless they see this modeled in front of them?  You can't see a belief or an attitude, can you?  Well....most of the time you can't see an attitude...but that's a different blog post entirely!  What you see are actions!

I have a gratitude journal that I write in semi-regularly; I keep it on my nightstand.  I have recently decided that that simply isn't enough for me.  I am making a choice to become more deliberate about recording thanks--or, counting my blessings--throughout the day and throughout the week.  I have decided to record my thanksgiving in a journal that is downstairs also, where I can more readily access it.  One of my hopes in doing this is that my children see my thanksgiving at work!

For Valentine's Day, we gave each of them a journal for recording their own thanksgiving. They were so excited!  With the exception of one very systematic son, who must wait until the end of a day, they started writing immediately. It was precious to see!

I'm hoping that we, as a family, will cultivate more than just an attitude of gratitude.  I'm hoping that we will become doers of thanksgiving, givers of thanks.  I don't ever want to neglect this key element of the promise of peace that is mine, as my requests are presented to God.

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7

I'm having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth today