So at launch we were challenged to ask the Lord to show us each month something he wants us to abandon and something he wants us to pick up. I had begun to pray into this for the first couple of days, and as the days turned onto weeks I kept reading things like this:
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
“Continue steadfast in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”
I was beginning to get the point. Thankfulness is what I was picking up this month.
To top it of, I’m currently working through a book called The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown (p.s. you need to get yourself a copy asap). One chapter is titled “Cultivating Gratitude and Joy.”
It rocked my world a little bit.
The chapter references another book in which the author talks about how most of us live in our own world of “not enough.” Our first thoughts in the morning go something like “I didn’t get enough sleep” “I don’t have enough time” etc. on the cycle goes without us stopping it to think or examine what we are saying.
There’s so much I have to be thankful for, but practicing gratitude is not something that come automatically and I guess that will take, well, more practice. It’s a conscious effort we have to choose make.
I am choosing to practice gratitude.
Lack of gratitude leads to a lack of joy and I don’t know about you, but life is a lot more fun when it’s joyful.
Nobody likes someone who is all words and no talk, so I’ll practice right now:
1. I am thankful for the opportunity to be here in Africa, learning and growing and sharing the love of Christ
2. I am thankful for everyone back in the states, for their love and support
3. I am thankful for bread, even when it is all we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner (we have started referring to it as African manna)
4. I am thankful for the laughter that the children seem to live in day in and day out despite the hardships they have faced
5. I am thankful for a Father God who loves me so well and provides for us when plans fall through
6. I am thankful for times of rest
7. I am thankful for a Heavenly Father that desires for us to sit and spend time with him and will meet us where we are at
8. I am thankful for my teammates who push me to be a better person
9. I am thankful for people like Sybil and Aneke who spend their days pouring into the lives of the kids and youth in Chokwe.
10. I am thankful for clean water that I can drink from the sink
11. I am thankful for a cool day after a night of super heat and little sleep
Take some time, practice some gratitude today.
Oh and hey, I finally got around to uploading some pictures if that is something you are interested in. Check out my facebook 🙂
