Family Dinner and Thoughts on Thankfulness

 

It's a Family Dinner update! Every Tuesday night we have all the kids and grands over for dinner. It's wild, it's chaotic, it's definitely a sensory overload 😅 At one point last night I looked around the room and we were all crowded in our tiny living room and everyone was engaged in something.

Emmy (our oldest grand who is 7) was reading a book outloud, wanting me to help with some of the words. I was holding Asa, who was happily bouncing up and down. Alex and Morgan were chatting in the chairs, Ted and Collin were both strumming guitars and talking business, David had Calem in his lap, Ella wanted me to feed her "baby" stuffed animal a bottle, and Addie was bringing all kinds of things from the back room into the living room and having a great time marching to her own beat, which is normal. 

Tuesdays are always a long day, full of cleaning and cooking and then cleaning up after everyone is gone. But at the end of the night, I'm always so thankful for the time we have together as a family. I don't really enjoy the cooking, because cooking is not my idea of fun. But I do enjoy serving my kids, providing a good meal and what I hope will be memories that will last a lifetime. 

Speaking of being thankful...I was reading Joyce Meyer's book titled "The Answer to Anxiety" that I'm reviewing right now, and just finished the chapter on "Thankfulness."

It really spoke to me concerning this time David and I have been going through, without a job.  The book shares many scriptures about thankfulness and praying with thanksgiving. She also mentions the scripture about not complaining, but doing everything without grumbling or arguing (Philippians 2:14). 

She mentions that complaining and not being thankful is basically refusing to acknowledge all the blessings you do have, and focusing on what you don't have. And it just reiterated my desire to use this time of growth and learning as a way to encourage others, should they go through an unexpected time of job loss or hardship.

I know we have gone through many emotions during this period of being without a job, but for the most part, we've had such a peace that God was going to provide in his perfect timing. We've enjoyed the growth it's caused in our finances and our faith. And my joy will come from being able to look back one day and see (once again) how God has taken care of every detail.

But, it also made me think of people I know that are never thankful and the lack of fruit you see in their lives. 

Have you ever known someone like that? Someone who always looks at life through the lens of what they don't have, verses what they do have? Those people are like a weed that can creep through life's garden, strangling the life out of everything blooming along the path. They can be a poison and if you're not careful, you can begin to join them if you are around them for too long.

The book talks of thankfulness being a conduit to God blessing you and complaints being the barrier between God's blessings and the life of a perpetual complainer. And I believe it! The fruit is so visible! 

All that to say, if you're going through something, find the blessings. They are there, but you have to pray for open eyes to see. God has not forsaken you! He wants to bless you, but you have to be willing to be thankful for the smallest, as well as the largest blessings. It reminds me of that song "Little is much, when God is in it!" 

When you praise him and thank him for the little things, don't be surprised when he blesses you with bigger things that he has waiting for you.

In the meantime...worship is always good for the soul 🙌

Until Next Time...

Blessings!