Is Your Thankful Bucket Filled With Gratitude? A splash of gratitude can work miracles in the attitude about ourselves and God. Each step we take in this life is a gift from God, our Creator, and every breath we take gives us energy for living a fulfilled life. A thankful heart releases healing and strength to face each day, no matter what challenges we face.
Are we thankful only on one day of the year: Thanksgiving Day? No. Thankfulness is a choice. We choose to have a thankful heart regardless of circumstances or whether we feel like it or not.
Here are a few things most of us can be thankful for:
- Notice how the brilliant display of fall colors paints a beautiful picture on a canvas for us to enjoy! If so, is that on your thankful list?
- Did we eat this morning? If so, be thankful for the food for nourishing our bodies to function properly.
- Did we have a glass of clean drinking water? If so, we added hydration to our bodies for which we are thankful.
- Did we wake up in the comfort of our own bed with a warm blanket snuggling our feet? If so, we can be thankful to begin a new day refreshed.
- Did we have a choice of what clothes to wear? If so, we can be thankful that we have no worries about stepping outside as the cold winds blow and snow covers the dark pavement.
- Did we have a means of transportation to get to our place of employment? If so, are we thankful we have a job to sustain us?
- Did we talk with our loved ones today? If so, we can be thankful that they are still part of our lives.
- Did we have enough money to pay our bills? If so, we can be thankful for the provision of finances. (Phil 4:19 NIV)
- Did we go to church without fear of being imprisoned or beheaded or abused (ISIS)? If so, we can be thankful for the fellowship of believers and the freedom to worship God.
- Did you access a health professional recently? If so, we can be thankful as Canadians that we didn’t have to fork out thousands of dollars. My recent hip surgery and 4-day hospital stay didn’t cost me anything! How can I not be thankful?
This drop-in-the-bucket gratitude list is obvious, but is it? Not for everyone. Okay I can go on and preach about all the wealth we have and how we live in the best country in the world, but I will go on.
One more important drop in the bucket of thankfulness.
Are we thankful for the people in our lives? The Bible says to be thankful every time we remember someone. (Phil 1:3 NIV) Maybe the person was brought your remembrance for a reason so you could encourage him or her along the way. Send a note or email telling that you’re thinking of them. Lift up a prayer for them. Make a phone call. Or visit.
We can choose to be thankful for so many things and situations, even in self-imposed prisons of low self-esteem. Paul and Silas sang praises to their God in the darkest of dungeons in prison. Thankfulness loosed their bonds and the prison doors opened. Thanking God lifts us out of ourselves and sets us up in a higher place where we see differently!
May our bucket of thanksgiving fill up with gratitude one splash at a time until it overflows to others.
Is you thankful bucket empty? What are you thankful for?
Having a heart of gratitude and not a heart full of complaints. See my post about Stinkin’ Thinkin’ vs Thankful Thoughts.