Recently my husband and I have had quite a bit of loss in our life, loss that we just didn’t understand. I was initially so angry. As I was trying to make sense of why this was all happening, why we had so much loss in our lives, I saw a drawing of Jesus hiding a large teddy bear behind his back standing in front of a little girl who was holding a small teddy bear. The caption read, “Trust me, I have something better for you.”
This was my “Ah-ha” moment. I hadn’t trusted God with this loss. I hadn’t trusted that God would see us through. I hadn’t believed that although we may never quite understand what happened, God might have bigger plans for us. It was at this time that I began to pray and show gratitude to God for the many blessings I DO have in my life. I read a lot of scripture during this time, and below is one that really struck a nerve.
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him” Psalms 28:7
When I turned the gratitude to God it allowed me to better invite His presence in. The more I showed gratitude toward God, the better equipped I felt to come to terms with the loss in my life and the more I felt I had opened the door for continued blessings.
A heart of gratitude in our relationship with God reminds us to take the focus off ourselves. It allows us to open up our hearts for gratitude in other areas of our life.
My prayer for myself and others is with a heart of gratitude to God, we can seek out opportunities to show gratitude to others and to see the blessings God has planned for us beyond what we could ever imagine.
Meredith Lee, St. Luke’s Children’s Center Management
