52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge: Week #8 Express Gratitude to Three People

This week I have struggled.

I struggled with this blog challenge. I struggled with missing my children while they spent a week away with their father at Disney World. I struggled with their lack of enthusiasm to be home when they finally returned to me. I struggled with old demons that continuously threaten to suck the happy right out of my soul. This week has completely exhausted me and my tank is empty.

I’ve felt this way before. I reflect on a time when, though I thought it was, all was indeed not lost. I found hope. I found faith. I found reasons to keep on keeping on.

And when I start to feel as overwhelmed and helpless as I have this week, I know one thing to be true. I can either give up or look up. My problems aren’t going to go away if I give up, and maybe they won’t go away by looking up, but by turning to God and asking for his help maybe I will learn how to accept and deal with the situations that cause me so much pain.

For this recent trial can cause me to pause in the midst of all of this pain and uncertainty and be grateful for three people. And though they are not people of the flesh, I feel it is most fitting for this week’s challenge.

I am grateful for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

My faith has seen me through some very difficult times. And I will lean on it when I can’t stand tall on my own. I will give thanks to God for all that he has blessed me with. I will thank Jesus for his sacrifice for me. I will trust and be thankful for the Holy Spirit which guides me. Those who try to break me and take me down through scheming and manipulation will be no match for my faith.

I attended church today for the first time in far too long. I’ve been meaning to go back, but as the saying goes “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. I hadn’t committed myself to going, and it was time. Not because of the week that I’ve had, but because it was time; however, the horrible week manifested my need to reconnect with my faith more than ever.

While listening to my pastor deliver his message I couldn’t deny the feeling that he was talking directly to me. He spoke of hard times and how it’s ok to turn to God when we need him, even when we have been on a good stretch of ignoring him. That God wants us to turn to him. He spoke of fear, and while it is understandable to feel scared when troubled waters rise and threaten to sink our boats, we should not fear because he will not give us anything we can not handle. We sang his praises and everything truly felt well with my soul.

As many times as I have felt stressed, overwhelmed, and scared about things I can not control, I know deep down that He is right and good, and everything will work out. How these things will play out I don’t know. Will my prayers be answered? I really do not know. But I do know that if I put my trust in Him, He will make me stronger so that I can accept whatever outcome I am faced with in the end.

For this I am grateful.