Gratitude...By Faith

These days I am not feeling particularly grateful. I feel overwhelmed and emotionally tired. I feel paralyzed by too many ideas floating around in my head and not enough time or resources to implement any of them. I feel grumpy and frustrated and irritated. And try as I might, I just can't change all of these crazy feelings.

This is when we must walk by faith...not by feelings. I don't feel like offering the Lord my "thank you" right now. But I must choose to. When we take those steps to go against the tumultuous feelings and just do what we know is true and right, then usually, when we aren't even paying attention, our feelings do change. How do we know what is true and right? We must look to His loving Word.

He tells us to be thankful. Over and over again. He knows it's so good for us. Gratitude changes us from the inside out. It's an act of faith in His perfect character and it brings Him glory. And studies show that thankful people are physically and emotionally happier people. God's commands always bring life to us!

So every day of November (and maybe-to-be a new lifelong habit?) I am choosing something...anything...to be grateful for. It's an act of faith right now, and whether or not my feelings change, I know that living the true and right is the key to heart-peace.

Tuesday Unwrapped: The Lost Necklace

I loved this post over at incourage today...it spoke to the way that I seek to live...

To seek the beauty in the midst of chaos.

I really want to notice all the blessed goodness that surrounds me all day. Because goodness is God. And I want to notice God in the everyday-ness or should I say everyday-mess? Seeing His goodness leads me to a grateful heart, and a grateful heart is where I want my focus to be as Thanksgiving approaches. I really don't want to skip a month of focused- gratitude because I am manically planning Christmas.

So every Tuesday I hope to participate in Tuesdays Unwrapped. I want to take time to really see and be aware of the small, unexpected good stuff that Jesus is bringing my way. And to write it down here so that it can be a sort of memorial...so that my foggy brain can remember all the ways He is showing me His love.

This morning I woke up all out of sorts. My favorite necklace had been MIA for at least several days and I was getting worried. I love that necklace and wear it almost every other day. I feared that one of my young sons had taken it and hidden it (one of them has had a recent fascination with "gems"). After asking them several times if they had taken it and getting the answer "no, mommy", I decided to start the house-hunt. No chores, no schooling, no nothing until I find that necklace.

I completely cleaned our entire upstairs in hopes of it turning up. Nothing. Scoured my little boys' bedroom. Nothing. My closet and bedroom...I looked under and over and into every little place I could think of. Next came couch-diving. The longer I looked, the more I ached that I wasn't going to find it.

I told my husband how discouraged I was about it and he gently reminded me to pray. "Aimee, every single time you lose something, you pray and then you always find it." And that is so true. It has happened countless times to me...I pray and God gives me an idea in my head of where it could be, and there it is! Why in the world didn't I just pray?!

So, yes, I paused and prayed. I sat and calmed down. Soon after, I visualized myself wearing it with a brown shirt and green skirt in Savannah ten days ago. Was that the last time I wore it? Hmmmm. "Sam, will you please go look in the red suitcase in the attic to see if my lost necklace is there?" I listened as Sam pulled out the suitcase and unzipped different compartments and then I heard him GASP! I yelled out "Is it my necklace?" And he yelled back, "YES!!"

I am telling you, I felt like the woman in the parable of the lost coin. The joy and relief when something precious is found is unbelievable.

"or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost'. Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner that repents."
Luke 15:8-10

And to think that Jesus and His angels rejoice over us. Isn't that amazing?! I am so grateful today for the gift of finding my necklace...something so dear to me. And more so I am thankful that God used that situation to show me how much He loves and rejoices over me...He seeks me out and rejoices when He finds me. His love is....wow.