One Thousand Gifts

One Thousand Gifts... One thousand things to be thankful for.  One thousand things to praise God for.  One thousand things to keep your humility.  One thousand things to keep your heart right.  One thousand things to give proof of God's goodness.

My hope is in YOU!  We are to live in hope and with great joy for God is our victory!  America is overflowing with all that we could ever need and then some.  In our bounty, however, it seems we only find what we still do not have.  The more we have the more we want.

1 Timothy 6:9  "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." 

With the way the world is it is so easy to want more.  Computers track what you look at so that the ads come up with things you may want.  Commercials flood every program with many "must-have" items.  Companies mail out flyer after flyer in hopes that they will perk your interest.  Pinterest is wonderful for getting ideas on how to decorate, crafts to do with your kids, new recipes to try, etc...  If we don't keep our hearts in check, however, the "I want" attitude sets in pretty heavily.

My mother-in-law recommended a book to me called "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  It is a very inspiring book.  I have now began writing my own thankful journal.  My goal is to write one thousand things that I am thankful for and then to keep on writing.  When our attitude is humble in true thanksgiving for "every good and perfect gift..." (James 1:17), whether big or small, that is when we find true joy and contentment.

Feeling down in the dumps?  Get out a notebook, journal, or whatever works for you, and leave a 'thankful journal' open on your table at all times; bring it with you to the store.  Write down every little gift, every little thing that makes you smile, every small detail that you can be thankful for.  These small things put together are what brings joy to life.  The only way to make it complete, of course, is to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  A personal relationship with God is what will bring you peace.  Humble yourself and turn to him.  His gift of salvation is free.  You can have new life in Christ!

 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  Romans 3:23

This can be your number one on your thankful journal.