Is there a difference between true happiness and joy? Well, it depends on who you ask! I am going to show you why you need to have happiness and how it will help you as a wife and mother to find joy and satisfaction in Jesus. Let's look at the lives of two different moms. Could one of these moms be just like you? Mom #1: Life as a mom is so rewarding but it is also filled with struggles. Exhaustion, fussy babies, whiny kids, and a mountain of laundry can taint the picture she once had of motherhood. It can steal her joy, and happiness might not be there when she collapses into bed at … [Read more...]
Count it All Joy When You are Suffering the Impossible
God desires for us to have total confidence in His sovereign grace even when we are suffering. More than anything, God is glorified when we have complete joy and satisfaction in Him. (James 1:2-8) Suffering comes in all different ways that most of us hope to never experience. I can't imagine what suffering is really like and feel at a loss in writing about it. The ways that I have 'suffered' are nothing compared to what you might have experienced and usually, there is someone who has experienced far worse! We are never fully prepared for the 'bad' things that come in life. I could … [Read more...]
5 Reasons You Need to Cultivate Gratitude Today
Do you lack gratitude in your day? Here are 5 reasons you need to cultivate gratitude today. You will find how being thankful changes everything even though circumstances stays the same! 1. A Song to Defeat the Foe! We have a foe that is deadly but when we sing a song of gratitude to the One who died for our sins, that deadly foe is defeated! What if you learned along with me to sing more often? We often have mellow Christian music playing in the background of our home. That makes it easy to remember to sing. It is not for the sake of singing that I sing. I often forget that … [Read more...]
5 Simple Ways To Wake Up Grateful Every Day
What is the first thought that crosses your mind when you wake up every day? As the fog starts lifting from your brain, do you think grumpy thoughts or grateful thoughts? Typically I start my day wondering how everything can possibly get done in the next 18 hours. It seems like most things have to be accomplished in the first hour! I have been working at changing my mindset as I start each day. You might still be worn and weary. The problems in your life will probably still be there but shifting to a grateful heart can make all the difference in the world! O God, You are my … [Read more...]
Up-Rooting Moodiness and How to Choose Gratitude
Marriage has a way of exposing our moodiness as women and unless you are an exception, I hope my experience will resonate with you and give you some solutions. How to choose gratitude wasn't exactly on my radar when I was struggling the most with my irritability. I know that there are a lot of reasons for moodiness. I know for myself that for years I dealt with imbalance because of issues related to my menstrual cycle and the pregnancies that God blessed me with. Pre-menstrual and post-partum issues are real. They are mood influencers. Each month I had migraines and often they lasted the … [Read more...]
7 Powerful Quotes to Unlock Gratitude from Your Heart
Have you ever noticed how powerful quotes can unlock something deep in your heart? These 7 quotes from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemoth will do just that for you. That is why you see so many graphics floating through your Facebook or Pinterest feeds with Bible verses and thoughtful or hilarious quotes! Who Doesn't Love Quotes?! A picture with a quote creates an emotional response that imprints the verse into your heart. A serious quote might resonate and stay with you longer because the picture creates a mental image. You might identify with an element of truth in that quote that cracked you … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Be Thankful to God
Any time of the year it is good to be thankful to God. We tend to rush around too much, not slowing our pace long enough to be thankful to God for all that He has done. When we do, we find our stress melting away. How often we ask God for something without ever stopping to thank Him. We pray, asking God to heal people (which is good) but do we stop and pray our praise for something concerning that person? We pray, asking God to work in an impossible situation (again this is good) but how often do we stop to thank Him for something about that situation? Today I am giving you a challenge. I … [Read more...]
Being Thankful was a Game-Changer
I would have never thought that being thankful could be a game changer for me. Culturing a thankful heart can change you too!! I was at a crossroad where two choices lay before me. One was to go on being melancholy until it grew into bitterness and the other was the road to thankfulness. Are you struggling with depression or that heavy melancholy feeling? I woke up with that every. single. morning for quite a few years. It is almost impossible to shake. It is not possible to give you a five-point plan that will automatically kick depression to the curb and shoot thankfulness into your … [Read more...]
How to Choose Gratitude When Your Marriage Hurts
When your marriage hurts, the last thing to cross your mind is to choose gratitude. Emotionally you are at a low and your thoughts are consumed with the issues that are causing your emotional pain. When God brought you and your husband together you were in love and somewhere along your journey, life happened and maybe you are NOT feeling in love anymore. When I was in the first years of our marriage, I honestly thought that I was the only woman in the world who sometimes experienced marital bliss ;-). I felt so alone! I didn't have an older woman who could set me straight or … [Read more...]
Shake Your Attitude Up with 12 Verses on Gratitude
How's your attitude? It's hard to have gratitude when your attitude is suffering! That's why I'm going to shake up your attitude with these 12 gratitude verses! Did you read what I have been sharing about Living Fearlessly? I made printables for 12 Scripture Memory Cards on worry (who doesn't worry from time to time?) Did you know that there is a difference between being thankful and being grateful? I think most of us really don't see much difference between the two words. Never fear! I am here to encourage you to learn the difference between the two words but that's for another … [Read more...]
Memorial Day is More than Picnics
Memorial Day is a holiday weekend at the beginning of summer where people have picnics with family and friends, go to parades, eat lots of hamburgers and hot dogs with potato salad and chips. Do you know the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day? It is easy to confuse them and walk up to someone who was in the US Military and thank them for serving! Evidently, people have been known to do this! What is Memorial Day? Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. It is too late to … [Read more...]
How To Have Gratitude Because God is God
Jesus healed ten lepers but only one returned to show his gratitude. Nine went on with their lives never choosing gratitude but instead demonstrating ingratitude through their lack of thanksgiving. We live in a society that is filled with ingratitude. We are rarely thankful and few see the goodness of God in their life. There are three types of people in the world. 1. Those who take God's blessings for granted. 2. Those who are thankful for how God has blessed them. 3. And those rare few who are grateful to God just because He is God. Which one are you? Do you remember the … [Read more...]
What Happens When You Forget Gratitude?
How easy it is to forget gratitude! Many people don't say "thank you" when something kind has been done for them. Thank you cards are almost a thing of the past. We simply are not a society that expresses gratitude when someone takes the time to reach out and save us from danger. In fact, a shipwreck on the cold waters of Lake Michigan shows that ingratitude has been an ongoing issue for many years. Not One Said "Thanks" for Being Rescued On the morning of September 8th, 1860, The PS Lady Elgin, a wooden schooner sunk in the murky waters of Lake Michigan when a smaller boat … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Be Thankful NOT Stressed
Are you too stressed to be thankful? Preparing for a big event or gathering of family and friends can rip that thankful spirit right from under you as you get stressed right out of your mind! It really doesn't have to be like that. Choosing to have gratitude as a lifestyle is one way that will slow your pace as you learn to be thankful. It seems hard. But you can do hard. I know you can!! So find a quiet space and time (be creative on this) to culture a thankful heart. You'll find a moment of calm in the middle of your busy life. There are 5 ways that I am going to share with you, not … [Read more...]
5 Psalms that will Encourage You to have a Thankful Heart
There are 5 Psalms that will encourage you to have a thankful heart when your day gets off to a bad start. When life weighs you down before your feet hit the floor, you can end up feeling more ungrateful for what's on your plate, than thankful. You Might NOT have a Thankful Heart When . . . You want to stay in bed longer The baby keeps you up all night You can't find your car keys The bills are higher than the money in the checking account How can you culture thankfulness when your day is going like this? King David in the Bible was able to culture a thankful heart and … [Read more...]