A HEART OF THANKFULNESS

"I want to encourage you to posture your hearts in thankfulness to the Lord. Thankful for the life he has blessed you with and the people he has placed around you."

Think back to one of your favorite memories, one when your heart was so full of joy that you just wanted to bottle up that feeling and keep it forever. Those moments when you know God is just blessing you, even in the little things, and you just feel so undeserving of such a feeling. Just like David in Psalm 28 when he says, “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” Now if you know me well enough you definitely don’t want me bursting out in a song ;), but I can definitely relate to this heart bursting feeling!! I think we experience those blessings more than we realize, but we may not have postured our hearts in thankfulness for every one of them. Our family just took the most incredible vacation and my heart is so full. Full of joy, thankfulness and beautiful memories that I will cherish. It was a week of watching our boys truly experience childhood in a way that was bigger than they could imagine. I found myself just thanking the Lord multiple times throughout each day as I saw His goodness and blessing upon us. At the end of our trip our transportation was 30 minutes late for the airport, we had to run across the entire building with 4 kids, 5 bags and 6 backpacks then get through security in 2nd largest TSA in the U.S. There were things that didn’t go as planned, but my heart of thankfulness had postured my mind to not worry as you can imagine I would normally be feeling. I believe that because I had focused so much on being thankful during the week and telling the Lord my heart that I was then able to have true peace when this trial came. In that moment when we were running to our flight I actually remember noticing how calm I truly was in my heart. I fully trusted the Lord and knew that He had our best interest at heart, so whatever happened with the flight I knew HE HAD US. He did indeed have us in His hands, and we even had 15 minutes to spare once we got to the gate because the incoming flight was delayed! Now, to feel THAT peace and joy all day everyday is something I truly want to strive for. When life gets hectic and stressors come, I want to feel that feeling of being held and at peace with joy bursting out of my heart. I want to encourage you to posture your hearts in thankfulness to the Lord. Thankful for the life he has blessed you with and the people he has placed around you. Here’s where your spouse comes in. I encourage you to be THANKFUL for your spouse, each and every day. That person that you fell head over heels in love with is by your side every day, DOING LIFE WITH YOU. I challenge you to never take that for granted, even on the difficult days or when life is just squeezing you. When you posture your heart in thankfulness you are able to forgive quicker when forgiveness is needed, you are able to see your loved ones through the eyes of the Father and you are able to extend grace when they fall short.