The other day, in the midst of some rather stressful and overwhelming things, I was convicted of something that I felt the need to share. Thankfulness.
As I eluded to just moments ago, I have been going through some challenges lately. In the days surrounding Thanksgiving I was home with my boyfriend, Joey, spending time with my family. It seemed like the picture-perfect time; family, friends, food, and quality time. We were thrilled to get this opportunity to spend time together as our family is quickly 'growing up' and our family dynamics are rapidly changing. In the middle of this special time I received a phone call from a family that I formerly worked for. They were inviting me to join them on their family vacation as their on-the-road-nanny. I was thrilled. Nannying is something I have enjoyed in the past and feel fulfilled doing. I automatically felt an immense peace from the Lord and after discussing it with my family, I agreed to accept the job.
Unfortunately however, when I address the situation with my landlady a domino effect happened, which regardless of my original intentions, led to me moving out shortly after my return to Oklahoma.
To my embarrassment and dismay, I allowed this situation and the surrounding conflict to take the forefront of my mind and during this time I completely forgot to be thankful for... anything. All I could focus on were the negatives in my life, the things that were going wrong, and what I could have...or should have done differently to prevent the unfortunate outcome.
The other day though, as I was packing my things up and cleaning the house, I felt God say to me: "Stop complaining and be thankful!" Until then it hadn't even crossed my mind that I had completely forgotten to be thankful.
Therefore, over these last few days, although they have been tough with moving out and transitioning to another 'chapter' of my life, I have attempted to focus more on the things for which I am thankful.
Some of those things, among many are: my family (My parents, siblings, and Grandparents), my boyfriend, Joey, my countless friends, and my church family. Overall, I am so very blessed and although my life isn't perfect; what I have learned from this conviction is this: Life will never be perfect and if I am waiting for that time to praise God and be thankful then I'll be waiting for ever. Instead, I should choose to focus on God and the blessings he has given me in the midst of struggles, as well as life in general.
So my challenge to you is this: Regardless of your circumstances, what are you thankful for?
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