Whispering Thank-Yous

Thanksgiving came…and it’s passed, now.

The November gratitude is a simple focus to have – thank-yous to God for my family, for my friends, for the blessings He’s recently given me.

We make lists, we write on slips of paper, we go around the dinner table naming our thanks. We love the feeling of this joy-filled gratitude, the joy that inspires thankfulness, and the thankfulness that inspires yet more joy.

But so often – after that fourth Thursday in November – we can forget thankfulness.

We limit thanksgiving to being simply a holiday, and forget that it’s more than that. It’s a way of life.

Take a moment, whisper a thank-you. Every day, many times, even.

Whisper thank-yous to the God who gave us breath.

The God who gives us grace upon grace (John 1:16).

The God who gives us strength (Psalm 28:7).

The God who loved us so, so much – who died for us when we were stuck in our sins (Romans 5:8).

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord – for this love, Your blessed love, the love You’ve poured out so graciously and radically upon me.

It’s easy to stop talking about gratitude when November’s over, when Christmastime comes and it becomes so easily about asking for gifts and less about thanking our Father for the gifts He has so richly blessed us with. When life’s pains weigh on us and we can’t see the beauty ahead.

Let us find joy in our blessings, in the beauty, but in the pain as well.

It’s so hard sometimes, so, so hard to truly say thank you to God when life hurts so bad.

And when things seem bleak…we are still blessed.

Because God is good, even when the world is not.

Because God promises His presence with us, even when we feel the most isolated.

Because God’s love is there to envelop us, even when we feel like we’re walking this life alone, afraid.

Because God is always faithful, even in the darkest of times.

Gratitude…is an attitude.

Gratitude is finding slices of joy in the midst of everyday life.

Gratitude is a choice. A choice to trust God’s promises, even when we don’t feel like it. A choice to say thanks for the things that truly are gifts. A choice to live vividly and love wildly because we can find passion in this very life, right here, right now, in this life filled with grace and hope.

So find that joy. Trust this God who holds the reins on this world. Trust the Savior who bled and died so you could have life. Trust the Father who blesses us with all things, day after day.

And whisper thank-yous.

For He is the reason we breathe.

- amanda joy 

@ Scattered Journal Pages

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