Choosing to be Thankful

Do you CHOOSE to be thankful for your abundance in good times and bad?

Throughout the years I have been fortunate enough to receive valuable advice from many sage individuals. Definitely near the top of the list, was the advice to keep a gratitude journal through times of abundance and also times of need. This was especially helpful during my time of grief and although difficult to do many days, I could always find something to be grateful for, even something as simple as food to eat, shelter, or health. These “simple” things that we take for granted are not guaranteed to us and many of us have learned it the hard way. When you are sick, you would do most anything to feel better. Yet, most days, as we walk around healthy, we don’t feel or express gratitude for that. How quickly we forget to thank God.

Unfortunately, it is often through times of trial that we learn to truly appreciate the gifts in life. There are seasons to life and we are wise if we learn how to transition gracefully through them. There are times of poverty, sickness, death, and despair. There are times of abundance, health, and happiness. I have lived through the despair of losing my husband, broken bones, tight finances, loneliness, and sickness. If it weren’t for these times, would the gifts of health, wealth, and relationships taste as sweet? Unfortunately, I think not.

I am grateful today because today I am living in a state of abundance and it tastes so sweet! This past weekend I spent time with five of my closest girlfriends. It was gift to be able to be with them as we live in different states and with demanding families, tight finances, and careers; we often don’t see each other. We rented a beautiful home for the weekend and we spent days laughing, talking, and praying. We ended the trip with a shared breakfast and time in prayer. We prayed for our friends who were unable to be with us due to difficulties. My friends then prayed for God’s blessing on my upcoming marriage and collectively many tears fell, as these were the friends who were with me when I buried my late husband, who was also their friend. Knowing how far away we were in that moment from the day of the funeral, I felt such an abundance of friendship, blessing and wealth. That moment of sweetness will be forever etched in my mind. I carry it close and know it is there for me to access when the times get rough, and they will. Life always seems to swing its pendulum whether we are ready or not.

A certain conversation that I had with a wise and wealthy man years ago has stuck with me. He had grown up poor but through the years he had built a company and made millions along the way. I asked him if he ever imagined he would have so much. He responded by saying he wasn’t surprised, but that he holds very loosely to his riches. He said it was God’s to give and God’s to take away.

The Bible talks about God’s abundant gifts to us and as I reviewed some of the verses having the word “abundance” in them, I was struck by how it often referred to his abundant provision of grace to us. We all love to be given abundantly in terms of riches and favor. However, God’s gift of abundant grace is perhaps the most valuable, is it not?

Every day I will do my best to CHOOSE gratitude for God’s abundant gifts and even if I am in a time of poverty or despair, I will CHOOSE to be grateful for his abundant gift of grace and his gifts of even the “simple” things in my life. This evening, as I head out to have dinner with friends, I will think about this and as I do, our laughter, conversation and shared meal will taste all the sweeter.