step two: a grateful heart

when my girls were younger, i placed two small journals on our kitchen table.

a thankfulness journal & a prayer request journal.

they were nothing special as far as books go

but my hope was that these little guys would pack a powerful reminder to each of us

to find something each day in which we were grateful

&

a physical reminder to pray for others.

i'll be honest

every page isn't full in those books

but i do have a keepsake of sweet prayers

& sweet reminders of things their hearts were grateful for.

i wrote last week about some things i need to do 

in order to get my time and my priorities in line.

the first and obvious step for me personally 

is spending quality time each morning reading scripture.

the second step

is cultivating a heart of gratitude.

i saw this little gratitude journal at one of my favorite stores in Seaside

but you can grab it here 

 

i've placed this journal

once again,

beside our kitchen table.

my prayer is that each of us will take a moment to reflect on something

each day

that we are thankful for.

something each day

to remind us to look for the good

to look for miracle in the simple every day

to be wowed by the things that might otherwise be taken for granted.

i think many of us have been blown away

& inspired by Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts

let me share a few of Ann's thoughts~~

"when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me." 

"Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle."

& possibly my favorite~ 

"Being in a hurry. 

Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me.

I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing.... 

Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. 

It turns out I was throwing it away."

ann voskamp

~

my hope for you today

is no matter where you are,

whether your personal gratitude journal

(whatever that may be)

is overflowing with blessings

or your gratitude is truly a sacrifice of praise

lifted up when your day is painful or your heart is dry,

that we each take the time

& enter what truly is in front of us

&

find that for which we are grateful.

i'm betting the length of that list would

blow us away

xo