Daily Joy

“Unless we speak praise, we consistently speak poison. Unless we are intentional about giving God glory throughout the day, our days unintentionally give way to grumbling.”- Ann Voskamp

Conviction at it's finest. I've been a little grumbly lately. Maybe you have too? There are so many pressures, so much busyness, so many people demanding our time and attention. It's easy to get a little grumbly and list all the ways the day is going wrong. My morning started off with the realization that I forgot to bring the class snack at M's preschool, and the day ended with the realization that I forgot to send M's nap mat and blanket to preschool too. I've made the comment "I'm struggling!" more than once today. It seems easy to speak about our struggles. Other moms feel my pain, there's camaraderie. It's a little more unnatural and a little harder to be intentional about speaking about the good things that fill our days.

I got up early one day last week and was reading the Bible and a verse seemed to jump off of the page. It said, "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me, to the one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" Psalm 50:23. My first thought was, thanksgiving is a sacrifice? To sacrifice means to give up something valued for the sake of something more important or worthy. Giving God praise and gratitude for the blessings in my everyday life seems like such a small thing, but yet the verse goes on and says that thanksgiving glorifies God. The magnitude of that thought hit me hard, I can glorify God every single day just by being thankful.

I started a gratitude journal years ago when I read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and I've been using it on and off ever since. It's become a journal of sorts, chronicling the beauty of this life and the moments spent with family and friends. I realized as I went back and read some of the entries, it's not only filled with glory to God, but God has poured it back out as a blessing to me. It's filled with memories of sweet moments. I want this to make sense to you, and I want you to see how easy it is to utilize something as simple as a gratitude journal. Some of you may feel like you don't have time to keep up with a gratitude journal, or maybe you don't like to write, but it really is easy! I usually try to write a few things down at the end of the day (and I don't do it every day, but I wish I did and I plan to start!). Here are a few examples from mine:

1. On our way back from the beach, a stranger overheard us singing Happy Birthday to E at Chick-Fil-A and gave her $3 to wish her a Happy 3rd Birthday.

82. praying out loud during Bible study

179. snuggling with M after work

229. accomplishing the double nap (both kids asleep!)

353. walks to the pond with the kids

499. having a good friend pray over me and my future

510. today is Friday!

622. E lost her second tooth! Phillip pulled it and she didn't even realize it!

711. a shooting star

These things range from memories with my kids, to the beauty in nature, to me just being thankful that I've made it through the week. They include silly things the kids have said, major milestones, fresh zucchini bread, hot coffee on the porch swing, mountain views, etc. I have three years of blessings documented that acknowledge His goodness and remind me that He is faithful. Three years of sacrifice and glory. I wish I would've realized it sooner, that I would've known that thanksgiving to God is a sacrifice that glorifies Him.

It's not lost on me that some of the things that I waste time on (hello, social media!) have not been listed in the hundreds of blessings that I've recorded. Perhaps I need to be more in tune to how much time I'm wasting, in effort to be more present with and grateful for the blessings in my daily life. Maybe I need to take inventory of my days and see what ends up on my list. And then have the self discipline to let go of some of the things that prevent me from experiencing gratitude and joy.

If you take inventory of your day, did you complain more than you praised God for? I know I did. It's a continual practice, this daily sacrifice of thanksgiving and glorifying God. Tomorrow is a new day.

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy. Psalm 65:8.

Sidenote: I love this song by the JJ Weeks Band, Count Your Blessings:

Count your blessings, name them one by one Count your blessings, see what God has done Count your blessings, ‘til all is well with your soul Count your blessings, move on past your doubt Count your blessings, when fear is screaming loud Count your blessings, until your heart overflows

Every blessing great and small Every breath every step we walk Is a gift we don’t deserve from a love we cannot earn There’s still a song to sing even in our deepest need The valley’s low and the mountains tall Take a breath and count them all, count them all, count them all

Happy Counting! :)