Tag: perspective

Thankful Thursday (episode 4)

I didn’t do very well with keeping my gratitude list this week. Maybe this is the reason that I have been feeling so down…? And while I could beat myself up and focus on my shortcoming (and this would be my tendency), I’m going to choose to be grateful for God’s amazing grace and understanding. He knows that I struggled this week, but He loves me the same. And a new week is ahead of me – a new chance to focus on things to be thankful for. 🙂

Here are just a few things that I recorded, for which I am grateful:

  1. Getting me through work even though I was really tired. God did that just about every day this week – for some reason the sleep I got and the coffee I drank were not enough…but God helped me.
  2. That our dog, Daisy, is okay. She has had an upset stomach, so we took her to the vet. They gave us some medicine for her and told us to put her on a bland diet for a week or so. But they couldn’t find anything major wrong with her during her examination. We’re praying she feels better soon!
  3. The opportunity to write. I am SO blessed to be able to share my heart and to know that there are people out there who read and understand…and care.
  4. Safety. I take it for granted so often. Every time I get in the car and drive somewhere, there is the possibility of an accident. But God has chosen to keep me safe, and I praise Him.
  5. That nothing terribly bad happened this week. Okay, so maybe I didn’t do a good job at keeping my gratitude list…but one thing I can be grateful for is that God didn’t allow anything horrible to happen over the past few days. Now if it did, He would still be God and He would still be good – and I would have to respond in a way that pleases Him. But He was gracious and gave us a fairly good week, and for this I am thankful.

That’s it for this week! Thanks so much for reading, and I would appreciate prayers for increased consistency in recording the many blessings He sends, as well as keeping a positive perspective. ❤

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Photos by: Crystal Knauss

From Despair to Hope

Today I was feeling low again. I trudged my way through work in the morning, and then tried to be happy that I had the rest of the day to accomplish some tasks and do something that I enjoy. But even that wasn’t helping me feel any better.

So what do you do when you can’t seem to get out of that “pit” of despair?

Well, what I tried to do was to get out of the house. I had already taken my dog for a walk, so I had gotten some fresh air. But this just wasn’t enough. I felt like I needed to jump in my car and go somewhere new.

So I drove to a Starbucks that I’ve never visited before, and I brought a new book that I purchased recently. I ordered an Iced Cinnamon Almond milk Macchiato and slid into a comfy leather chair. I opened the devotional book, “All Things New” by Cherie Hill, to today’s date…and was blessed to find that the topic aligned with how I was feeling. I love when God does that!

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The title for today’s devotional was “Defeated and Powerless” – and that’s how I felt. But after reading the text and looking up some of the Scripture verses, I began to feel a little better. These are some of the things that I wrote in the journal section that accompanies the text:

  • I am surrounded with God’s shield of love – He protects me from any situation or experience that He hasn’t ordained for me! Therefore I can know that everything that happens to me is for my good…and His glory (Psalm 5).
  • Paul said He came to the Corinthians in weakness – timid and trembling…(1 Cor. 2:3) I need to bring my weakness to God and He will turn it into something great.
  • His grace is all we need! His power works best in weakness (2 Cor. 12:8-10).

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I can’t say that I felt completely better after my little outing, but it did reset my focus some – and that always helps. I was encouraged by God through His Word that even though I felt weak and defeated, I can find strength and hope in His presence. ❤

What do YOU do when you’re feeling low? Is there something you’ve found that works to help you climb out of the “pit” of despair?

Featured Photo: Ricardo Gomez Angel

Other Photos: Crystal Knauss

Thankful Thursday

I’ve been trying to change my perspective and to acquire an attitude that is more grateful. And guess what? God is helping me!

My goal is to record at least three specific things from my day that I am thankful for. Some days may be harder than others, but I know that there are at least three things that I can find to praise God for. Truthfully, even if they’re bad things that happen or difficult situations that I’m struggling with, I should still be able to find something good in them.

So today is Thursday and both “Thankful” and “Thursday” begin with a “Th,” so I just had to pick today to start this journey. 😀 I think what I’m going to try to do is write a post each Thursday filled with all the things I’m grateful for from the previous week. We’ll see how it goes!

Three things from today that I’m thankful for:

  1. God helped me with my first day of scoring essays at my work-from-home job.
  2. I got to take a nice walk in my neighborhood with our dog, Daisy. Also, during the walk I was able to visit with a couple who lives close to us.
  3. I was able to visit my Hubby on his break at work tonight, and we had gift cards to get Starbucks drinks….Yum!

Thanks for reading, and I hope to continue this tradition of Thankful Thursday. Maybe you could even start a similar tradition, yourself! The more grateful we are, the more positive I believe we’ll be. ❤