Why We Need Gratitude

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hen the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in early 2020, did any of us have any idea how much it would still be affecting us in the final months of 2021? How it would disrupt our lives, our communities, our nation, our world?

Unsettled describes life since March of 2020. But sometimes unsettled feels too mild an adjective to describe the seismic changes the world has experienced. Our collective Covid suffering is a very unwelcome add-on to lives already checkered with more than enough hardships. Which leaves us questioning, “Where is God?” and “What is He doing?” in the midst of this ongoing chaos.

This will be the backdrop again this year in our annual season of gratitude— the weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. And though feelings of gratefulness may not be bubbling over in our lives, still … more than ever, we need to practice gratitude.

A friend named Ney Bailey wrote a wonderful book called Faith Is Not a Feeling in which she defines faith as simply taking God at His Word: “You and I can either grow accustomed to listening to our feelings, thoughts, and circumstances, letting them control us, or we can be in the habit of taking God at His word despite our feelings and life experiences. We need to choose with our wills to believe that His Word is truer than our feelings.”

Choosing to express thanksgiving to God for everything in our lives— whether we value each person as a gift or a difficulty, each circumstance as a blessing or a calamity—is one of the best ways to express our faith. We who “make a claim to godliness” (1 Timothy 2:10) can welcome these next few weeks as an opportunity to both train our children to be more grateful and 1 © Ever Thine Home, 2021

also quicken our own hearts to generous and genuine thanksgiving to God and to others. All in spite of how we feel. But first we adults must tune our hearts to thanksgiving.

Each of the following chapters features an historical story that highlights a different aspect of giving thanks to God. I hope this ebook will guide and coach you in developing a stronger faith and in modeling a grateful heart for your family and for everyone you know. And you might consider reading the stories to your children ages seven and older for family devotions as you approach Thanksgiving.

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CH A P T E R

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hanksgiving 2020 was one I’ll never forget; it was the first year we did not gather with any of our six children or any extended family because of the Covid-19 pandemic. For 30 years we had celebrated Thanksgiving with everyone at the farm where my mom was born and raised. But last year nobody could come, and for the first time my mom wasn’t with us. She had gone to be with Jesus earlier that year.

So Dennis and I celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving at home with another couple, dear friends of ours who were also unable to gather with their family.

It felt strange and yet … there was a sweetness in practicing our traditions, in giving thanks by faith, in knowing “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20).

Most of us imagine holidays in a superficial, picture-perfect way. But it often doesn’t work out as we wish, does it? Dennis and I remember other years

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when it all felt wrong … the year we were suffering from the fallout from one of our teens wandering away from us and from the faith … another year when we missed my dad after his death … and the year we still grieved the loss of our granddaughter Molly who had died in the summer after one week of life.

Broken relationships, hurt feelings, and loneliness don’t disappear for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Neither do worldwide pandemics.

In difficult seasons I’ve learned to remind myself of this truth: We aren’t in heaven yet. This earth is a broken place. Scripture tells us plainly we are aliens and strangers on earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are living here temporarily as we wait for God to call us to “a better country, that is a heavenly one … for He has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:16).

Therefore, in what feels like a hostile world right now, focusing on gratitude is exactly what we need. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to “Give thanks in all circumstances …” That’s not an option; it’s a command.

In recent months Dennis and I have been reminded again of the need to thank God for things that are out of our control. God even wants me to thank Him and pray for the difficult people in our lives. Jesus bluntly said: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you …” (Matthew 5:44).

Giving thanks for the hard things in life helps us remember He knows and He’s in control. It acknowledges that God isn’t surprised at our circumstances. He has a plan.

We just can’t see it yet.

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

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1 THESSALONIANS 5:18

PROVIDENCE IS THE GROUND FOR THANKFULNESS

Thanking God reminds us that God is working in hundreds, even thousands, of ways we can’t see or may never know because of an attribute of His called Providence.

The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible describes Providence as “the evidence that God has not left this planet alone in the vast universe or forgotten for a moment the human situation. God visits, touches, communicates, controls, and intervenes, coming before and between man and his needs.

Providence is the ground for thankfulness.”

Every day we come up against circumstances that challenge us to choose whether we will believe that God is providentially working in our lives. Will we give thanks today for what God has allowed?

Psalm 103:19 tells us, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his sovereignty rules over all” (NASB). And Romans 8:28 shows what this sovereignty means to those of us who follow Him: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

God, in His Providence, has a plan for your life. Will you choose to believe that He is at work?

Here are two ways to help yourself and your family become more grateful people.

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1. G R O W T H A N K F U L N E S S B Y meditating on what God has said about gratitude.

Here are a few of my favorites: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.

Psalm 103:2-4

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!

1 Chronicles 16:34

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:5-7

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

Psalm 107:1-3

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2. G R O W T H A N K F U L N E S S B Y learning about faith heroes who have gone before us and modeled gratitude well.

One of my favorite thanks-giving stories is about William Bradford, who clung to the idea of Providence in the midst of difficult days and unwanted circumstances.

When Bradford, the future governor of Plymouth Colony in New England, was just a boy he suffered great loss, more than any child should have to bear. When he was 16 months old, his father died; he never knew the man for whom he was named. At the age of four, after his mother remarried young William was sent, for reasons unknown, to live with his grandfather. Two years later, his grandfather died and William returned to live with his mother and stepfather. The greatest loss of his young life occurred a year later when his mother also died.

The Bible tells us that God “will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4), so we must believe that He was fully aware of all that was going on in young William’s life. What was God doing? Why did He allow such pain to fall on one so young and alone?

After being moved to his fourth home in seven years, William found himself living with two uncles in another village in England. They were delighted to have him as another worker for their farm. However, William’s trials were not over. He soon became sick and did not recover quickly.

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In his long illness, we finally see a glimmer of hope that God was indeed in control. Because William was unable to do manual labor, he was allowed to learn to read and write—skills that very few commoners were able to acquire in the 1600s.

William likely received his education from a local minister. Though his sickness left him frail and weak, by the age of 12 he had read many books from the pastor’s library, which of course included the Bible and classic books such as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

William’s Bible reading drew him to God but also left him with questions. As a teenager, he was invited by a friend to attend another church in a nearby town. It was a church that believed in teaching the true Word of God as man’s authority. It was also somewhat risky to attend, for some viewed the church as opposing the Queen of England. Some in the church had been arrested.

In spite of his uncles’ strong objections, William chose to walk many miles each Sunday to attend this church. There he met William Brewster, who mentored him in the faith and became like a father to him. Years later in 1620, Brewster joined Bradford on the journey to the new world aboard the Mayflower.

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Ephesians 1:11 describes those who know Jesus as “having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.”

God’s providence—that He was providing William’s training and preparing him for future use—is clear to us now, though it was not so obvious at the time to him or anyone else.

God allowed William Bradford to endure a life of trial because in His providence God was preparing William for his future calling. That calling included leading the colonists of Plymouth as they journeyed over the Atlantic to the new world and then serving as their governor for over 30 years.*

FOLLOWING THE PATH GOD PREPARED N RITA A PU ER PR AY y Father, Heavenl Thee, I believe d, Thy Wor t p e c c a I hy will, T o t t i m I sub , promises y h T n o I rely idence. v o r p y h e I trust T has set th e c n e d i n, Thy prov habitatio y m f o s bound ers administ y l e s i w and airs. all my aff ovidence r p r u o Y to see e Help me ncerns m o c t a h t l in al thanks. u o Y e iv I ever g And may Amen.**

Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “I know the plans that I have for you.” God wanted William to learn to read and write, to learn to think and pray, so he could follow in the path God had prepared beforehand.

Do you believe God has plans for you that are no less significant than His plans for William Bradford? You might want to talk about this with your children or spouse and then pray the prayer on the right. It’s similar to one William and the Puritans who sailed on the Mayflower might have prayed.

Some of the words sound different from those we use in our prayers today, but sometimes it is good to pray using words written by someone else.

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PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

1. As you think about gratitude and about God’s Providence this week, begin every day by whispering aloud the prayer on the previous page.

Focus on the “I” phrases, for they tell us how to practice gratitude.

Then pray and ask God to help keep your faith in His all-knowing Providence through every detail of your week.

2. As you think back on the story of your, how do you see God’s Providence at work? How do you see that He guided you, even when you didn’t realize it? How has he used negative experiences of the past for your good as you grow in Christ?

May God be pleased to see all of us desiring to give thanks in all things, every day!

For more on expressing gratitude and growing your faith during times of hardship, read: • “When God Makes Us Wait: Seeing God in Disease, Delays, and Divine Detours” • “Finding Stability As We Enter Certain Instability This Fall” *The story of William Bradford is adapted from Growing Together in Gratitude, by Barbara Rainey, a read-aloud book for families. **From The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, Arthur Bennett, Banner of Truth Trust, 1975).

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CH A P T E R T WO

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ometimes it’s too easy to say a generic, meaningless “Thank you for this food,” to God around the dinner table. While it is a valid declaration of gratitude, is our heart in it? How many of us move past superficial prayers to nurture a truly grateful heart?

A good first step is to understand God’s Providence, as I discussed in the prevous chapter. As we understand that God truly does orchestrate our lives, and that He does it for our good, we are comforted and empowered to act by faith in His Word.

As we turn our focus to another aspect of giving thanks to God, I’d like to highlight again two of the verses I mentioned in the first chapter: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NASB)

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“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Notice that in one verse we are instructed to give thanks “in everything,” and the other says that God causes “all things” to work together for our good.” These phrases point to God’s providential control over all aspects of our lives—every detail, every thing.

So another way of growing gratitude and faith is to train our hearts to thank Him specifically for details of our lives—even hard and challenging parts.

When I’m driving to a meeting or an appointment and I get unexpectedly delayed waiting for my turn to go around the road work, I give thanks … and I mention the details. It might be that God is protecting me from being in an accident or it might be He allowed it for my gratitude practice and for growth in patience. Chances are I’ll never know, but thanking Him says, “I trust You and I welcome this interruption by Your hand.”

One of the most remarkable stories I’ve ever read of thanking God for every detail, even awful things, is Corrie ten Boom’s experience in a World War II concentration camp.

It is good for our faith to visit the stories of those who have gone before us in the journey of faith.

And this story is one every Christian needs to know. It comes from her remarkable book, The Hiding Place.

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GIVING THANKS FOR FLEAS

The Ravensbruck prison camp was a place nobody wanted to be. Each day it was the scene of cruel suffering, sickness, and death. Located 50 miles north of Berlin, Germany, it was established as a prison camp for women in 1938 by members of Adolf Hitler’s army.

Corrie and Betsie ten Boom, along with their 80-year-old father, had been arrested for hiding Jews from the Nazis. In 1944, Corrie and Betsie were unloaded at Ravensbruck with thousands of other women. Yet not even the horrific conditions of the camp or the threats of punishment could stop these two godly women from loving the persecuted Jewish people they had rescued and the people God put in their lives in the camp.

At the risk of death, they tended the sick and injured, careful to avoid being seen by the prison guards, and secretly led times of Scripture reading and prayer.

Then the two sisters were moved to Barracks 28, where the living conditions were as bad as any in the camp. The backed-up plumbing filled the air with a sickening stench. The beds were actually long rows of crude wooden platforms stacked three high. What little straw covered the beds was dirty and scratchy, and of course, there were no sheet, blankets, or pillows.

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After being directed to their beds, Corrie and Betsie crawled over the smelly straw to lay down to rest. Then…

“Fleas!” Corrie cried. “Betsie, the place is swarming with them! How can we live in such a place!”

“Show us how, Lord,” Betsie prayed.

Suddenly she exclaimed, “Corrie, He’s given us the answer! In the Bible this morning … read that part again!”

Corrie made sure no guard was in sight, then drew the Bible from its pouch.

“It was in First Thessalonians. ‘See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another … Rejoice always. Pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus’” “That’s His answer,” blurted Betsie. “‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ We can thank God for every single thing about this barracks!”

“Such as?” Corrie said.

“Such as being assigned here together … and for what you’re holding in your hands.”

Corrie looked down at the Bible. “Yes! Thank You, dear Lord.”

“Yes,” said Betsie. “Thank You that we’re packed so close, that many more will hear about You! … And thank You for the fleas.”

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This was too much. “Betsie, there’s no way God can make me grateful for a flea.” Betsie reminded Corrie that the Scriptures said to thank God in all circumstances. “It doesn’t say ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.”

So the two sisters gave thanks for fleas. “But I was sure Betsie was wrong,” Corrie wrote in her book.

Weeks later, however, Betsie told Corrie, “We’ve never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room. Well—I’ve found out. This afternoon some women asked for a supervisor to come settle a dispute, but she refused.

Even the guards wouldn’t come. And you know why? Because of the fleas! The supervisor said, ‘That place is crawling with fleas!’”

In any other barracks, it would have been very difficult to read the forbidden Bible without being discovered by the guards. But God provided protection by way of fleas.

Today, are we grateful for the multitude of daily comforts we enjoy that these women prisoners didn’t have? Do we give thanks even for the nuisances God allows in our lives? We may never learn the reason for our suffering, as Betsie and Corrie did, but we can know that God is always caring for us no matter how difficult our circumstances may be.

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PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

1. What unpleasant or uncomfortable circumstances in your life can you give thanks for, even though, like Corrie and Betsie, you can’t see the good right now?

Will you be bold enough to ask God to show you why He has allowed these difficulties? Pray this prayer to focus your heart on gratitude: Heavenly Father, You see where we live, and You understand the hardships that sometimes come into our lives. Even though trials are difficult, we know that You plan to use them to bring about good, even if we never know why. Help us honor You by believing and giving thanks in every circumstance.

2. As you pray, thank God for the different details of your circumstances. As I think of the Covid pandemic, for example, I can thank Him for the different restrictions I don’t like. I can even thank him for the distressing debates in our culture about masks and vaccines because we don’t know how God will use this for His purposes.

Remember, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

We are called to follow Him and to obey Him … and that includes thanking Him even when we are not happy with our circumstances.

For more on God’s provision in times of trouble, read: • “Giving Thanks for Everything—Even the Coronavirus, Even at Easter” • “God Has Given Us Everything We Need for Every Circumstance”

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CH A P T E R T H RE E

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t was dark and time to move again. Harriet Tubman, the woman leading the runaway slaves, encouraged them to move quietly and quickly even though they were exhausted and hungry.

After many hours of walking in the darkness, Harriet tip-toed silently to the farmhouse door and knocked. When the door cracked open, the farmer asked in a frightened voice, “Who is it?”

When Harriet gave the password, “A friend with friends,” the man inside told them to go away. He hurriedly explained that slave-catchers had searched his house the day before and he couldn’t take the risk.

Stumbling back into the deep darkness of the woods, the runaway slaves crawled under bushes and piles of leaves to hide as dawn began to lighten the sky. As they fell asleep, Harriet was praying intently to her heavenly Friend, asking Him to lead them through the ever-present danger to safety. Harriet never slept but kept watch through the day and prayed without ceasing.

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As night fell once again and the group prepared to move, they heard a voice of someone approaching. In fear, everyone retreated back to their hiding places. But as the voice came nearer, Harriet heard the words, “My wagon stands in the barnyard across the way. The horse is in the stable.

The harness hangs on a nail.” The man never stopped, but continued walking and repeating these words until he was gone.

When the night sky was completely dark, Harriet crept out of the woods and found the barn. Waiting there were all the things the man had mentioned, including blankets and baskets of food. God had provided for their needs and for their deliverance.

As the runaways climbed into the wagon they proclaimed, “Praise God! Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Thank you” over and over. They knew without question that God is the One who saves and delivers.

Giving thanks was their natural response.

WE ALL NEED DELIVERANCE

Throughout history there are countless stories of deliverance and liberation. It is a common theme of the human experience.

The Bible is full of these deliverance stories. God used Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. David was delivered over and over again from his enemies, especially King Saul. Paul was saved from the venom of a snake bite. These stories illustrate the truth from Psalm 50:15: “Call upon Me in the

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So how are we captives? What makes us prisoners like the slaves Harriet Tubman rescued?

day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” But deliverance is not just for those in slavery or those who lived in biblical times. Every person needs to be delivered. In Luke 4:15-21, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1 and said He had been sent to fulfill the Scripture:

The Bible teaches us that all men and women and boys and girls are trapped by sin. We are born separated from God; our selfishness and bad choices keep us captive. But God loved us so much that He sent His son Jesus to pay the price to free us. When we give our lives to Jesus, He sets us free from our sin.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

God also brings other kinds of deliverance to His children. Some people are delivered from sickness, some from near accidents or fires.

And many have been set free from

EVERY PERSON NEEDS DELIVERANCE

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having angry, hateful hearts toward others. God’s greatest miracles are worked in the human heart.

Have you been delivered from the slavery of your sin? Have you let God deliver your heart from being angry and wanting to get even?

The wonderful hymn by John Newton says it so well: Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.

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PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

Deliverance is an opportunity to practice gratitude. Every single person in your family has known moments or times of deliverance. Being rescued is always a cause for rejoicing. The most important one is our deliverance from sin.

1. Read these Scriptures about God delivering us from sin: But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart … and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:17-19

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:9-11

2. By yourself or as a family, thank God for how he has delivered you from slavery to sin. Make a list of the ways God has saved you and then pray that list specifically … thanking Him for rescuing you from every one. And you might use some words from the Scriptures you just read For instance you could say, “Thank You God that You have freed me from slavery to sin and death. Thank You that You are the Good Shepherd and You gave Your life for me.”

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3. Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom Christ set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” We always need to be growing in our faith. Ask God if there are other things in your life that He wants to deliver you from—anger, pride, bitterness, getting even with those who hurt you, etc. Then pray and ask for new deliverances.

4. If all in your family have been set free by Jesus, then together give thanks for that most wonderful of all salvations. If there are members of your family who do not yet know Jesus . . . a little brother or sister, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle or a parent . . . then pray together for that person’s deliverance. Thank God that He loves that person even more than you do.

May this be a year of increased gratitude and a year of growing surrender to Jesus and His plans for your life.

*The story of Harriet Tubman, which I also used in book, Growing Together in Gratitude, was adapted from Heroes in Black History: True Stories From the Lives of Christian Heroes, by Dave and Neta Jackson, Bethany House Publishers, 2008.

For more about trusting God in times of trouble, check out Barbara’s series on “3 Lies You’ve Been Believing About God: • Part One • Part Two • Part Three

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CH A P T E R

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ou know those people who seem to always have a song in their hearts? It can be pouring rain, bumper to bumper traffic, or 2 a.m. in a hospital waiting room, and those people are whistling or humming away, seemingly unphased by the circumstances.

As annoying as that can be when you’re the one in the next car over or even the neighboring ICU bed, this is the type of continual praise and thanks God desires from His children.

Here’s a story of one woman who simply could not quiet her desire to praise her Creator. What I love about Fanny Crosby is her choice to believe God’s goodness even in what humanly looked like an oversight or a mistake God could have corrected.

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THE GIFT OF NO SIGHT

“It seemed intended by the blessed Providence of God that I should be blind all my life,” Fanny wrote in her autobiography, “and I thank Him.” At just six weeks old, Fanny developed an infection in her eyes. When her parents took her to the doctor to be treated, he made a mistake—an error that made her blind. In her later years, instead of feeling angry toward the doctor, Fanny saw that this was God’s provision for her life. She later said that if she could meet the doctor she would say, “Thank you, thank you” over and over again.

Because she couldn’t see, Fanny developed other assets such as a keen memory and a strong ability to concentrate. Her hearing was also more sensitive, as was her spiritual attentiveness to people’s hearts. She believed that her lack of sight made her a better speaker because her blindness created a bond of sympathy with her audience that made them more receptive to hearing the truths of the Bible that she talked about so often.

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Fanny Crosby saw her blindness as God’s gift that provided the creativity to write more than 8,000 hymns. At eight years old she began writing poems that would later turn into song lyrics. By age 10, Fanny was able to recite the first four books of the Old Testament and the four Gospels, simply by listening diligently as a neighbor read to her.

At 24, she published her first book of poetry that contained her first hymn. She went on to publish hymns that many of us still sing today: “Blessed Assurance,” “To God Be the Glory,” and “Saved by Grace” to name a few.

Though Fanny was a gifted writer, she did not take credit for the lyrics she composed. She said, “I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration in the work that I am about to do.” She prayed and meditated until the ideas came. When the idea was ready, she quoted it to a friend to write down and then sent it to her publishers.

Finally in 1915, a few weeks before her 95th birthday, Fanny got her eyesight back when she went to be with the Lord. What a life of joy she lived, even while never being able to see while on this earth! She said, “I could not have written thousands of hymns if I had been hindered by the distractions of seeing all the beautiful objects. Thank you, Lord, for making me blind.”

One of Fanny’s hymns, “All the Way My Savior Leads Me,” includes these words: “For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.”

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Confidence in God as our loving, always-working-for-good Father helps us “calmly wait Thy will.”* I suspect that the followers of Christ who experience the most joy in everyday living are those who continually praise God, whether by words, by prayers, or through song. Obviously singing words of praise is my favorite—it helps right my anxious heart and refocus it on Him who always gives what is best to His children.

FOUR TRUTHS TO REMEMBER ABOUT GOD

Throughout this ebook about gratitude I’ve pointed to several truths about God. In a very real sense, a thankful heart reveals how much we believe these: 1. God is in control. We are not. Thanking Him is an acknowledgement of His authority. It also realigns my thinking and my faith with what is true.

2. God loves me and is working for my good. He has a plan and a purpose in my present circumstances every day of my life. He promises me that He is working all things together for my good (Romans 8:28). Even when I don’t feel like He is.

3. God’s ways are not my ways. What He is working for good isn’t always visible, nor is it in my timing. God never works as fast as I’d like. The changes I desire might not even happen at all.

4. God can be trusted at all times. Psalm 16:7 tells us, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.”

When we choose to give thanks by faith, not based on our wavering feelings, we are instructing our hearts to remember that God can be trusted. And when we truly learn to trust God, that affects everything.

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PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

1. Can you remember times in your life when you found it hard to praise God? Have you ever chosen to sing or listen to worship music anyway, in one of those off seasons? What was the result of an intentional choice to praise?

2. Pray this prayer to focus your heart on gratitude: Lord, help me to find joy in the details of life that I wouldn’t have chosen for myself. Keep my focus on how You want to use me. You hear our loudest cries and our softest whimpers.

You even understand our silence. Help us to see Your hand at work and to always say thank You. 3. Of course, Thanksgiving is the perfect time to express your thanks and praise to God. Most of you will be gathering with loved ones, even if the number is smaller than normal this year because of Covid. As you knock knees around the Thanksgiving table, you can bond over something more than shared memories.

One way to do this is to use our Ever Thine Home Untie Your Story questions to spur conversations around the topic of gratitude. You can find these questions on our new DIY placesetting pockets in our Etsy store here.

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4. Another way to grow togetherness and unity in your family is to spend time talking about God’s faithfulness to your family throughout the year. Giving thanks to God together, as each person acknowledges God’s sovereign hand in their lives, is a way to bless His name.

When we can praise and thank our Creator together by corporately proclaiming His good works, we set the stage for generations to come who will again declare His goodness.

I hope you have enjoyed this short ebook on gratitude, and I pray that you’ll be able to apply it in your life, no matter what you face in the future. May you and your family become known as Christians who are always giving thanks for everything and inspiring others to do the same.

Read some of Barbara’s posts about her favorite hymns for praising God: • “A Wretch Like Me” • “Amazing Love” • “The Gift of Challenges”

*The story of Fanny Crosby, was adapted from my book, Growing Together in Gratitude.

28 © Ever Thine Home, 2021