Life can leave you feeling like you’ve been kicked in the face. I hear ya. Thank goodness for the promises of God to stand on! I’ve been doing a whole lotta standing.

I skipped writing this year on dates I normally write about. It’s not that I didn’t have the words. It’s more like I didn’t know what to do with them.

Written words are a way to express the raw emotions that change us at the core. I guess my ability to express was on silent.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I remember the first Thanksgiving after the accident & how hard it was to face that day but how thankful I was for the children I still had on earth. It was a different type of thankfulness. A new kind. Thankfulness that can only come with deep loss.

The Lord placed four in my care. One he kept. One he took home.

They aren’t little anymore. I wish I knew then what it’s taken me years to learn. I wish I had an ounce of understanding on what true gratitude was. Oh, how I wish.

What I had were roots of ingratitude. I’m grateful the Lord is showing me now how to humble myself & confess my need to Jesus. He has planted the seed on what it looks like to be a radically thankful person.

Colossians 2:6-7

I can tell you, I had no idea what roads I would walk from last year’s Thanksgiving to this year’s. No one really knows, right?!

Time doesn’t stand still. It moves whether I’m ready or not. I’ve been picking up pieces all year. Pieces of the puzzle I thought I was working on. Only to find out that not only did God have something else planned but I didn’t even have the right puzzle.

Jesus is the healer of all. I haven’t done any of this alone. He’s with me as I reach for each piece on the ground. Some pieces I wanted to leave right where they were but He bent down with me & helped me pick it up.

The piece of forgiveness. Gratitude. Grace.

Hurts can strangle gratefulness right out of a person if we’re measuring with the wrong things. Don’t let it happen. Please, don’t lose hope because of your circumstances. Shift your thoughts to Him. It’s the only way.

I know it’s hard to forgive. It stinks to be thankful when all you thought was real wasn’t. Extending grace might seem impossible but you can do it! Follow the example of the Savior.

Praise helps! His Word helps! Psalm 103 helps!

I’ve decided that the best way to share what I’m learning about gratitude is to be vulnerable & show you a tiny bit of what I’ve written while studying what real gratitude is. Here goes……

I need to let the Lord speak to me through His Word (that means being in it), respond to Him in humility, obedience & seek true gratitude. Jesus is there to start my day & WILL light my way IF I seek Him first. Christ’s words are rich & need to be alive in my heart. I have no wisdom. Wisdom comes from pouring God’s Word over my wicked heart.

I need to love what I see IN JESUS more than I ever have. I need to really draw close & look.

As I grow in faith, I don’t rise to the next level. I actually drop down, more & more, until I’m on my knees……..

Being thankful, really thankful, as in grateful beyond words is way more than the thanks I half hearted gave. Being grateful is not an option. It doesn’t matter what’s happened this past year or in the days to come.

My joy & hope don’t have a earthy source. I have moments of joyful times but that’s something different. The joy I’m talking about comes from Christ. Jesus deserves honor & praise. He lives in me so I can be who he’s called me to be. His divine enabling is how I can live a life always being thankful.

True thankfulness has roots in the King. My spilled puzzle pieces are nothing. He already has it figured out anyway. I might not understand it but that’s ok. I TRUST HIM.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

I’d change a thousand things but I can’t. I’d skip over many learning lessons & hurts but I can’t. It’s how the Lord has decided to teach me.

Maybe you don’t know what to do with your scattered puzzle either. It’s ok. He knows. Ask Him for help & offer him a thankful heart. I’ll be the one next to you opening another puzzle box.

Lets worship His holy name together,

Tracy

#rootsofhealing #thanksgiving #gratitude