Thankfulness Changes Things.
Ok, but AJ! I die.
Thankfulness does something.
I remember the first few months after leaving my corporate job and deciding I was going to do Spoonful of Faith full time.
It was horrible.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It was like I was going to war. War with my thoughts - Was I really good enough to do this? Would we make it? Would our marriage fair through it all? Everyday I battled. I had a newborn baby at home and a 2 year old and I was struggling with postpartum and the stress of being a new full time entrepreneur. I wasn’t bringing in much of an income.
I asked myself, almost daily - did I make a mistake? Will I ever make a decent living? Will it be successful? How long will I have to walk through this season? Even though it didn’t make the days shorter, I knew that God led me here. I knew it would pay off. That was the only hope I really had.
One day when I was cleaning out my desk area, a book fell down and practically hit me in the head. The name of it Steadfast Love. The book was about the response of God to the cries of our hearts - which I took as a major sign that I needed to read it. It was all about leaning into God’s love that never leaves us in the midst of hard times. As I was reading this book, God was dealing hard with me. And opened my eyes to realize there was something I wasn’t doing as I was going through this desert like season.
Actual footage of my notes from that season… 2016
I wasn’t giving thanks.
For what I had. I wasn’t looking under the pain and the yucky moments and declaring that there was still some good there. So I made a pact with Him. I would show up each week in a thankfulness journal. I would list the things I could give thanks for. Like a hot shower with no babies grabbing for me. A moment with God at night when everyone went to bed and I was wide awake. Happy kids. A meal I made with my hands. The flexibility of being home. No flare ups from Lupus. Sometimes simple things. Sometimes difficult things. Yet things that matter.
Y’all let me tell you, it worked! It totally changed my perspective and gave me light and hope in the hard place. That season is still one of the hardest I’ve probably walked through. It was a time where I felt God was literally taking me through the desert so I could be ready for what He had prepared for Spoonful of Faith. And having thanksgiving on my tongue took away some of the sting.
Some days I’d show up crabby and not wanting to do that journal. And I’d sit and then something would pop in my head from the day. Leaving 3-5 things on that list and numbering them - was so life giving. I could go back and read them whenever I wanted to remind my heart. It was God’s personal resume with me - that He was still good and still showing up in the midst of that season.
Today, I’d love to gift you a printable gratitude journal page.
Maybe this season is just difficult. Maybe you’re overwhelmed. Maybe you are perfectly fine but haven’t sat and given thanks in awhile. Maybe you’d like to see what a long list of thankfulness will do for ya. Whatever your situation - thankfulness changes things and I’d love to gift you this tool to help you stay reminded and hopeful.
Thanks for showing up in this space with me. Happy Thanksgiving, friends!
Click here to get your free download >>