four weeks of thanks

today is the first of the month, and the first day in a twenty-seven day focus on thankfulness. my good friend laura (of peacoat papers) sparked an inspiring movement among her friends to keep a gratitude journal, with an entry for each of the remaining days until the thanksgiving holiday. i’ll gladly participate, recording at least one thing daily that i am grateful for. honestly, i know it will not be difficult to come up with something each day – i already recognize that i am a very fortunate girl. the sad part is that even in my acknowledgment i find myself discontent at times, and so this exercise will be good for me. gratitude is the key to true joy & peace in life, because everything we have is a gift anyway. thankfulness to The Giver should be a routine part of my life.

“always be full of joy in the Lord…don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything…thank Him for all he has done. then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand…for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.” Philippians 4:4, 6, 7, 11

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 2004 by Tyndale House Publishers.

so today i am thankful for friends who encourage me to think on the things that are positive and uplifting, when the world could be so discouraging if we allowed it. i’ll be keeping a list daily, and will post the log in it’s entirety on thanksgiving day. others on my blogroll have already responded to laura’s motivation, and you can browse their blogs for an extra dose of gratitude.  i invite anyone to join in this period of intentional appreciation of what we have, and too often take for granted. i promise you’ll be glad you did.