In this season of focusing on thankfulness, October for Canadian and November for Americans, we are inundated with reminders to be thankful. But being thankful should never just be relegated to a once a year event. Thankfulness stems from a heart of gratitude. Gratitude comes from realizing all that is good in your life and all the blessings God sends your way no matter what you are going through in the moment. Gratitude does not come naturally to us humans. It is so much easier to notice and focus on all that is not good. We are constantly being inundated with influencers, ads and posts on social media and television telling us we should be more, have more, do more. It causes us to focus on not what we are blessed with but on what we/society/manufacturers/others tell we should have but don't. Developing a grateful heart takes work and sometimes we just can't be bothered. It is so much easier being on the half empty cup train. So much more natural. Having a grateful heart is a one step at a time habit, developed over time as we train our eyes and hearts to see our blessings. It is making a choice, one moment, one day at a time to find all the things that are right and good in our lives, all the good gifts of God towards us. Is it easy? Sometimes. But sometimes it is the hardest thing you will do. Please join us as we train our hearts to be grateful in all things and our minds and mouths to respond with thankfulness all the time not just one month a year.
~helpful podcasts ~ There have been a couple of podcasts that I've randomly come across on youtube that have been very helpful or uplifting for situations that I am dealing with. I love how they have just shown up in my feed right at the right time. I call that a God-incidence.
~ brunch with friends ~ Sunday we had brunch with a couple whom we used to be very good friends with back in the day. God has brought them back into our lives recently and it was really nice to reconnect and catch up
~ work course completed ~ I had to take a course for work and I after procrastinating about it for a couple of weeks I finally just bit the bullet and took it. It was easy and it's done and out of the way.
~ a good night's sleep ~ I find the time change, both forward and back, brutal. It takes me weeks to get fully used to it. So this week has not been fun but the other night I had a great sleep, the first one since the time change. So thankful for that good night.
~ tiramisu ~ one of my favorite desserts ever. I got an extra portion to bring home from our brunch on Sunday because Hubby doesn't eat sweets. No way was I leaving that behind. It was a nice treat the next day with my afternoon coffee.
What has been a blessing to you this past week that you are thankful for?
9 comments:
Old friends are the best friends. I love a little something sweet with my coffee in the morning. I ate some left over pumpkin pie with mine a few days this week. Something had to be done with it...so I took a hit for the team and finished it off.
How fun to reconnect with your old friends and do brunch. My husband's absolute fave dessert when we go out is Tiramisu. It's the only time he orders dessert for him self otherwise we end up sharing a chocolate mousse which is my fave.
Yay for gettting the required class done! Oh how i remember all those required teaching courses/online classes to stay updated. It's one thing about teaching I don't miss. (although some were very good and informative).
The clock changes never bothered me before I hit menopause! Now that I'm post menopause it's starting to get a LITTLE bit better but wowza...my sleep patterns are totally off this week. Hope it improves. Thankful you got a good night's sleep!
I'm wondering if that book you have on your sidebar by Tozer is available in paperback or hardcover?? I'm currently perusing various books to lead a women's group come February.
I hope you have a very restful, cozy weekend Susanne. LOVE your thots in the first paragraph above. SO true
Amen to your first paragraph!
How great to reconnect with old friends. I know what you mean about how refreshing a good night's sleep is. I don't have as much trouble with the fall time change as I do the spring one, where we lose an hour. But even without time changes, I rarely sleep more than 3 hours at one time, mostly due to needing to get up to go to the bathroom.
I'm glad the course work is done and over with for you. I will often bring dessert from a restaurant home, too, to eat with my afternoon coffee the next day. My favorite is Double Chocolate Coca Cole Cake from Cracker Barrel. It's so rich, I have to divide into two servings.
How nice to reconnect with old friends. As Believers there is so much to always be thankful for. Hope you have a lovely and relaxing weekend!
I don't like the time changes either and can't figure out why we can't just keep it one way or the other. Changing back and forth is terribly unhealthy. Arizona doesn't do the time changes and that was one thing I DID NOT miss during the 16 years we lived there. So glad you finished your class and reconnected with old friends. I don't believe in coincidences either. God gives us what we need when we need it. I hope you have a great weekend!
Great introduction to your post today Susanne. Despite not drinking coffee I love Tiramisu and I wouldn't have been leaving it behind either. Well done on completing your class. Have a good weekend.
Yay on getting that course work completed!
I agree on the difficulty of sleeping after the time changes. I do wish we didn't do them.
Old friends are like gold. I'm glad you had that chance to catch up with them at brunch.
Have a good weekend!
I am thankful that my move has been done and that there are only little decorations to be put on and in the furniture. Of course Germany doesn't celebrate and I have enough of wars ! Why remember ? it doesn't change anything. As long as people like to fight against each other, it's hopeless.
Definitely not relegated to annual Thanksgiving event! I love FFF for this very reason. I love your phrase, "developing a grateful heart".
First of your faves -- there's nothing wasted, is there.
How lovely to reconnect with good friends, complete something you'd put off, and get decent sleep! Well done.
Chocolate and coffee. What a beautiful combination.
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