Thankfulness

* This post was originally published July 23, 2007 on my bebo page.

I was reminded today about the importance of having an attitude of gratitude.

It's so easy to be thankful for a list of good things in my life when my house is peaceful and my kids are being good. It's easy to sit down on Thanksgiving Day grateful for many things, then go home that night and be grouchy and miserable. What's difficult is being thankful for the blessings in life when things are not going smoothly. But I know that's what God expects of me, as His daughter. If I want others to see Jesus in me, the noticeable difference will be if I choose to be grateful during times of stress and struggle. If I choose to be joyful and thankful for the 'un'blessings in my life.

So I will praise the Lord for the tiredness I feel today, because I know there are many women with no children to keep them up at night. I will give thanks as I listen to my husband's snores at night, because there are wives whose husbands are away working, or fighting for freedom, or who have run away and left their families. I will smile and enjoy the constant commentary on 'families these days,' because I am one of the few who still has a strong, healthy, living Grandma. I will crank up the praise music over the bickering of my children in the van, because we are so blessed to have a vehicle (and one that fits our entire family, no less). I will scrub toilets and floors with a smile upon my face, for the Lord has provided us with a beautiful house that we can call home.

No more time to be wasted complaining and grumbling. Every little 'un'blessing that I might find to complain about exists only because of the abundance He has provided. Thanks be to God that my stomach is never empty, my clothes are not tattered, my house is heated, the biggest worry my children have is who's turn it is next. God is so good...