A Habit of Gratitude
Psalm 100
A psalm of thanksgiving.
1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
A psalm of thanksgiving.
1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
I was so inspired by a friend of mine that was spending time on her blog listing out all the big and small things, everyday things and extraordinary things that she is thankful to God for. I told her I just loved her way of thinking. Then I happened to be on a blog (A Holy Experience) where the author spoke about a Gratitude Community, the Thousand Gifts and had her own list of of things she was thankful to God for and I was inspired all over again. Come to find out my friend had also been inspired by this blog (A Holy Experience) and had decided to start her own list. Well, now I am starting my own One Thousand Gifts list and joining the Gratitude community. (see below)
Here is just one of the comments made by Ann (meet her HERE) from A Holy Experience that inspired me: Too often I miss Him, oblivious, blind. I don’t see all the good things that He is giving me, gracing me with, brushing my life with. True, He is everywhere, always. But maybe, before The Gift List, I thought of Him as further off, not so close. When I started to see all the things that I love bestowed upon me, I started to see Him as near, present, everywhere, showering me with good things. Seeing the things I love all around me gives me eyes to see that I am loved, that He loves me.
Isn’t that beautiful! I want to see Him as near also, I want to know and appreciate all that He gives me every moment of every day! So here is the start of my Thousand Gift List. 1. Thank you to Ann for opening up your heart, soul and spirit and exposing it all to so many. You just will never really know how God has used your words to awaken in me what seems like a new stirring, a new glow, a new desire, a new day with ‘my Everything’! Your blog is saturated with the very essence of our God. When I read your words I feel as if I am literally soaking in the Living Water. God has greatly gifted you to put words down that express such intense passion for Him!! Thank you for all you do and say that points your family, your friends and your fellow believers to our (as my oldest says) Indescribable Creator, Lord, Savior & Friend!! 2. Thank you to my friend (TH…you know who you are) for sharing your list of gifts that God has given you on your blog so that others may share in your joy. Thank you for being an inspiration, an encourager, a prayer warrior for my family and I. Thank you for being a FRIEND to me!!!!
Thank you Lord for
3. YOU! for all that I know and for all I don’t know (yet)
4. my salvation………..my life now that you hold in your strong hand and for my life that I will have with you for all eternity
5. my husband, whom I have known and loved since I was 2 weeks shy of being 17. I loved you then as a romance novel hero, I love you now with a love that ‘knows’, that understands, that is confident, that is strong, that is unwavering, that is peaceful, that is secure!!
6. my oldest and 7. my youngest……..my precious, wonderful wild boys! God brought you to me not through my womb but through a most incredible plan that He had since the very beginning of time. He knew the moment you both would be brought into this world. He knew you needed a mommy and daddy and I am so very thankful He chose me to be your mommy. My boys, never doubt God had you on His mind since time began, that He loves you with an all-consuming love, before you were mine you were and still are His, Know and be confident in the plans He has for you, the ones your living out right now and the ones that are to come. Trust that He loves you best and knows you best.
7. A Quite House in the evening…………when all my boys are all tucked in and sleeping
8. A Computer so that I can communicate with family, friends, fellow believers near and far, research and learn, express myself, seek to glorify you Lord, to find out what is going on in the world, to offer help, encouragement, inspiration, prayers (by me and for me) through the Holy Spirit
9. A NEW day to live for you, love you, listen to you, obey you, to tell my boys about you
10. A Cup of Coffee…………morning, afternooon and night…..whenever the mood strikes
11. A Fantastic Family that knows me (good, bad and ugly) and loves me anyway, they make me laugh, they are there for me, they put up with me, they love my boys….
12. A Quite House when my husband is out in the early hours of the day working to take care of us and my boys are still tucked in and fast asleep
13. The Voice of the Holy Spirit because it tells me that my Spirit is Alive and Well, safe in the presence of God
14. Homemade Bread that I made with my own wee little hands
Oh, Lord I pray that from this moment forward I gain a Habit of Gratitude so that I see your hand, your heart, your love in all things big or small that you allow me to have, experience and do!!
That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works.–Psalms 26:7
Your joy is just spilling over! What inspiration.
I too have been inspired by someones thankfulness posts 🙂 Thanks Angie for sharing some of the ways God has blessed your family!