Testimony | Thankfulness

This time of year has been a struggle for me since high school. Something about the darker skies and the colder weather makes me less enthusiastic about each day.

As I started to notice my decline in hope, I began praying for ways I can equip myself to live well despite my changing environment.  Thankfulness was the strategy the Lord put on my heart. I choose to look at the good God has done rather than the things that I don’t enjoy happening around me.  Now I wake up in the mornings and thank God for my warm bed with far too many pillows and blankets. I get up and thank God as I let my dog out and start to feel my excitement for life bubble up again.  I continue throughout my day thanking God for my car, my job, my food, and realize how natural it becomes to thank God for almost everything.  I acknowledged my gratitude for the freedom of religion we have here over dinner with my sister and brother-in-law.  I felt appreciative of the efforts my friends made to be intentional with me or my roommates made to make our house feel like home.
 
Thankfulness is many things, but for now I’m learning how thankfulness is a choice. Thankfulness can be a state of mind that enhances our day to day life if we make it that. This mindset overcomes any environment and makes even the coldest, darkest days beautiful.

Author | Savannah Ugan