A Journey to Thankfulness

May you be encouraged today by the Thanksgiving perspective from my very special guest blogger – my own teenage daughter.  She has been on a journey to get to where she is now and the story I see God writing in and through her life overwhelms me completely with thanksgiving!  To God be the Glory!

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This time of year we hear a lot about giving thanks and counting our blessings. I would venture to say for most people the holidays bring out a spirit of thankfulness, but what happens when the holidays end and life goes back to mundane? What happens when things aren’t going so well and God doesn’t seem so good? What happens when things don’t go your way? Do you still give thanks in those moments?

In the winter/spring of last year, giving thanks was not a common practice for me. Instead, I complained and had pity on myself for all the things going wrong in my life. I had a running mental list of all the “bad” things happening to me every day. And every negative thought I believed to be true.

I had become so blinded by negativity and serious depression that I saw no purpose in my life or reason to thank God for anything. I was spiraling out of control. Fast forward to now – November 26, 2015. I am a joyous ball of energy. I see life as precious. And I am without a doubt 100% a different person than I was almost a year ago.

So what changed? Did things start going my way? Was it that big and exciting things are happening  to me because I am now a senior about to go to college?

No, no. It’s not that. Nothing in my surroundings have changed. But I have undergone some extreme heart and mindset changes. Second to simply the grace of God, the biggest tangible factor in this change in me has been my “Gifts” journal.

In the midst of my depression, I was encouraged by several people to begin writing down the things I am thankful for each day to help me look at life in a more positive light. I thought those people we crazy. I had nothing to give thanks for (or so I thought). But I reluctantly began trying to record in my journal any  “gift” or blessings I found in a given day.  At first, it was really hard and it would take me forever just to think and force out a few things to give thanks for.  But as this year has progressed and I continue to write my gifts, it has become easier.

This practice of writing down my blessings has shaped me into the person I am today.  By writing down every positive thing each day that I can think of, I have become so much more joyous. I look for the blessings in the little things now rather than looking at all the things going wrong in my life. I look at what is going right, or what God might be protecting me from by not giving me what I want. I find joy in the simple things such as family dinners, the colors in the leaves on the trees, or even how my coffee tastes in my favorite mug.

Not every day has been good or easy by any means, but every single day, no matter how bad, has held blessings in it.  So here I am looking through my journal with 786 gifts already written from this year and only a few pages left to fill.  I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving for seeing what the Lord has done in my life over the past year. I am flooded with gratitude for all of the people and simple joys written down that have touched my life in some way.

No matter where you find yourself right now, I encourage you to begin looking for gifts in each day and discovering the joy in every moment. “Give thanks in all seasons” means something to me now, that a year ago I could never comprehend.

A final thing to leave you with: God gives gifts + we give thanks = Pure Joy! Thank you for reading my post.

xoxo, Rebecca

 

Rebecca is a high school senior ready to soar at the University of Arkansas next fall. She plans to either study nutrition or pursue a path toward a  counseling degree. Along with her involvement in Student Council and a couple teen nonprofit boards she loves her job as a part-time nanny and serving on the music team at church and with FCA.