"How can I still be grateful when my world is all upside down?"

Today's Precious Prodigal Post is at = http://bit.ly/1uKfmYh "How can I still be grateful when my world is all upside down?" #givethanks #justfortoday Like this? Please "Like" us on Facebook a

Col 3:15 “…and be ye thankful.”

One of the most frustrating things about having prodigals is that they seldom appreciate anything we do. Gratitude? It isn’t even part of their vocabulary. While that’s certainly true about them, I wonder how much our lives…yours and mine…demonstrate our own gratitude.

Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what I live with on a daily basis? It isn’t easy to be grateful when your whole world is crashing down around you, is it? But difficult isn’t the same thing as impossible. And, like rejoicing, gratitude is a choice.

One November a friend of mine posted every day on Facebook something for which she was grateful. It was only for a month, but I was so inspired by her posts that I decided to do the same thing for a year, starting in January. The first thing that surprised me was how frequently I forgot to do it. Was my life so crazy that I couldn’t be faithful in this very small thing?

Besides spending a lot of time “catching up,” it was often a struggle finding things to put in that gratitude post. Those were some tough days, and it often meant replaying my entire day before I could find one thing. It didn’t become a habit until I’d been doing it for about three months. By then I was looking all day for things I could be grateful for…and in looking, I found them.

Did I still have a prodigal? Oh yes. Was I happy about everything in my life? Of course not. But being grateful is another thing entirely. I was and am astonished at how richly God blesses me each day. There’s nothing wrong with praising the Lord “anyway” but I’m not willing to settle for that when there’s something more. I want to praise Him because.

I love to hear my husband pray. Although he sometimes asks God to meet specific needs, that isn’t his usual pattern. Every prayer…and I mean every one…is full of thanking God for specific things in his life. I’m glad I can go to God with my every need, but surely my prayers can sound like something more than a “honey do” list.

What do you have to be grateful for today? It might be the evening song of the mourning dove. It might be the gorgeous sunrise reminding you that “joy comes in the morning,” or it might just be the smell and taste of that first cup of coffee. Maybe you were able to have a quiet afternoon walk, or perhaps you were able to hang your sheets outside.

Even on a really tough day, there’s cause to rejoice. Focusing on God’s blessings will not only sweeten our spirits, but it will also change our entire outlook. Why? Simply put, it’s impossible to be hateful and grateful at the same time. So it’s up to us. But if we choose not to be grateful, we shouldn’t be surprised if our circumstances steal our joy.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, began to list even a few of the things we are grateful for?