Five Minute Friday: Grateful

 

grate·ful adjective \ˈgrāt-fəl\

: Feeling or showing an appreciation for something done or received 

 

Being grateful changed my life.  A few years ago, I was not a very forgiving person.  I was also quite a proud person.  I would hold the smallest infractions close to my heart and mull them over and become resentful.  Depending on the situation, that resentment would turn into anger and we all know there is no forgiveness in anger.

Then I came across Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience.  At the time, she was hosting a meme called One Thousand Gifts (before it became a book).  She encouraged readers to be thankful for three things every day with the idea that by the end of the year the things you are thankful for will have added up to 1000 gifts.  In fact, Ann is faithful in being thankful and is now challenging her readers to take the Joy Dare. (If you struggle with anger, resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness, I would encourage you to take the Joy Dare yourself.)

I decided to follow Ann and write down three things I was grateful for every day.  At first it was easy.  I had a lot to be thankful for.  However, by week two or three I couldn't easily pull out three things I was thankful for.  I had used up all the obvious items.  I found that I needed to be intentionally thinking of things to be grateful for throughout the day.  That is when my heart began to change.  I started to see myself and the world through a different lens.  Now, the smallest infractions weren't something to be angry about, they were to be celebrated.  To be grateful for the Lego I just stepped on because it was left there by my child.  To be thankful for the money to purchase the Lego's.  To be grateful for my child's imagination, and ultimately thankful for the gift from God that child is.

Being grateful has humbled me, changed the attitude of my heart and changed my perspective.  I've made gratitude a habit and my resentment has been replaced with joy.

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