Maintaining Gratitude

Maintaining Gratitude

Do you struggle with gratitude? I admit that this is a daily battle for me. While I am thankful for so many blessings in my life, I find that if I am not really careful in monitoring my thoughts and eyes…I begin to feel that my life is lacking..something. This starts as just a gnawing thought or a spark of jealousy when a friend shares something exciting and wonderful that is happening in their life. 

I just spent a weekend with a group of madly busy Christian moms that all have families, homeschool, and their own businesses.  Wow..was I encouraged by their openness and willingness to share their raw emotions and struggles. I was so relived that I was not the only one that felt this way.

I had a conversation with another Christian mom about my needs and she reminded me that I need to be in a really strong women’s prayer and study group. She could see that I stay so busy with the demands of just living in a large family and being self-employed that I often end up feeling drained. I have been praying for a connection to be made with a couple of ladies so we can help lift and encourage each other while digging deeper into the Word. Some accountability wouldn’t hurt me either!

As part of this new Spiritual Mastermind group (for lack of a better name), I just finished reading and working through a wonderful book that I found encouraging and uplifting. It is the Gratitude: A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal by the Living Expression Collection.

This gratitude journal is a sweet encouraging book with daily devotions and verses. Along with the uplifting prayers, there are areas to color while absorbing the message and prayer.

Product Description:

Gratitude: A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal invites you to bring creative journaling and the calming act of coloring into your quiet time with God. This beautifully designed interactive prayer book helps guide your thoughts as you pray about concerns. Gratitude gives you a way to celebrate and give thanks to God for the many blessings he provides. Filled with over 100 designs to color, plenty of space for journaling and sketching, and 40 needs-based prayers, Gratitude helps you express your devotion to God with your whole heart!

Journaling and tracking my prayers has always been important to me. It helps to keep me centered and to know that even when I don’t feel my prayers are being answered (usually not as fast as I want), I can look back and see where God has in fact; always answered my prayers.

Gratitude is something that I struggle with way too often. One of my favorite scripture sections is Colossians 3:15-17 reads: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”.

From my studies on gratitude, these thoughts have been pressed on my heart and I try to remember them when things just are not going as I would like them to play out.

I believe that gratitude keeps our situations in proper perspective. Being able to focus on the good as well as the bad, we are forced to deal with the issue. Staying stuck and complaining is not an option.

Maintaining gratitude forces us to see and appreciate what we currently have to be grateful for in our lives. Being aware of the things we know we should be grateful for will reduce our need to always be wanting more.

Practicing gratitude increases our happiness. Maintaining a heart filled with gratitude helps build relationships and reduces the daily stress, which does tend to make us happier overall.

Whether you struggle with maintaining gratitude or are just looking for a new daily devotional, this Gratitude: A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal book would make a great gift for a busy mom as the messages do not take a long time and can be pulled out and studied anywhere.