Thankful Thursdays Part 1

                                     Source: wherebeautyrescues.tumblr.com via Allison on Pinterest

Today's a day I have been looking forward to for a while now...the start of Thankful Thursdays! I'm reading Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts along with some other truly amazing girls. So here are my thoughts on the first chapter, which had a focus on the affects of our Ingratitude.



This time of year the focus is on being thankful for what we have. When Thanksgiving rolls around it is pretty easy to find something to be thankful for, but do we do this in our everyday lives all year long? Sadly, I know most of us don't (including me). For some reason it is soooooo much easier to complain, question and look at what we don't have. Something God has really laid on my heart these last few weeks is how much our ingratitude causes a big separation between us and him. He wants more than anything to be close to us and when he doesn't give us exactly what we think we need we push him away. In Ann's book she talks about the lie that Satan speaks to us that God is holding out on us when we don't get everything we think we should have. He has been telling us since the Garden of Eden that "God isn't good...that God withholds good from His children...that he doesn't genuinely, fully, love us." (page 14) Knowing that people actually feel this way breaks my heart. We all face trials that cause us to question everything, but the one thing I have always known to be true is that God is in control and I am so grateful for that.

1 Corinthians 2:7 says "His secret purpose from the very beginning is to bring us to our full glory." Whatever God allows to happen is for his glory and to draw us closer to him. "There's a reason I am not writing the story and God is. He knows how it all works out, where it all leads, what it all means." (page 21) There are so many situations that happen in this world that I don't understand, but the thing is I don't have to. When bad things happen Ann encourages her readers to think about them as "holes"to see God through. You can choose to let a bad situation paralyze you or you can use the situation to grow closer to God. To me the choice is easy...let go of what you are holding on to and give it to God. He is good, his promises are true and he wants to help us rise to our full glory!

And that's just chapter 1...I'm so looking forward to the rest of my journey through this book and if you want to read along I highly recommend this book!

Don't forget to check out these wonderful gals thoughts on chapter 1 as well!

Emily from Meme & He
Tara from A Brew of Blessings
Katie from Hope Engaged
Kristen from Love, Done Simply