G is for Gratitude Journals by Carol Harrison

 

  

As I read through the Bible, I find so many references that command us to give thanks and not just when we feel like it or when life is going great. David in the Psalms knew what going through trials and hardships was all about and even though some of his Psalms are filled with laments, he ends with praise to God and giving thanks that God is God.

In Psalm 95:2 it says, “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”

I have no excuse for not giving thanks to God for all he has done; for his love, mercy, and faithfulness. Circumstances in life change and some are extremely difficult. There are times I don’t feel like being grateful and yet God commands us to be thankful or grateful.

I Thessalonians 5: 16-19 “Rejoice always. Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

David wrote out his thankfulness in Psalms, or songs of praise. Paul wrote instructions to the early church and to all believers, inspired by God, and included giving thanks or being grateful in more than one place.

So as I thought more about gratitude and thankfulness, gratitude journals came to mind. I looked up definitions of what a gratitude journal is. There were many examples of gratitude journals you could buy as well as various entries talking about what a gratitude journal is or what types of things you can write into one.

Really, gratitude journals are personal to you as a way to express your thankfulness for any and everything in your life. You can make a list, write a sentence, or even an entire journal entry. Sometimes you might want a combination of the three. Grab a notebook, a diary, or even go high-tech with an app as long as it is a place and means for you to easily keep track of things you are grateful for.

Why should we keep a gratitude journal? Being thankful and expressing our gratitude is commanded by God. Also keeping a gratitude journal is thought to boost your well-being and helps us focus on positive thoughts. The more regularly we do anything, the easier it is to become a habit, and keeping a gratitude journal is no exception. Imagine if we kept a journal every day for a year or every week for a year, how ingrained looking for things to be grateful for would become.

I must admit, that the idea of keeping a gratitude journal appeals to me and yet when I’ve tried to list things every day that I’m grateful for, I feel like I hit a wall. It isn’t that there aren’t things to be grateful for, I think I just balk at the expectation to write a certain amount of them per day. I don’t journal every day in any kind of journal. I am more sporadic at journal entries.

A couple of years ago, I made myself a junk journal whose purpose was to be a receptacle for the positive, the things to be grateful for, and the verses that meant a lot to me. I didn’t set out to call it a gratitude journal and yet that is what it really is. A place to record things I am grateful for. I need to make more entries into it.

A few weeks ago, our youngest daughter, Amee, wanted a gratitude journal. We looked at some in stores and on-lone. In the end, she decided she needed a junk journal, made by mom, to be hers. The first thing she put in it were Bible verses. What a positive challenge that was for me. First to make the journal and then to realize that we have the perfect reasons to be grateful. God and His Word.

How about you? Have you ever kept a gratitude journal or do you have one now? How often do you post an entry? What way do you record your gratefulness? I know this is challenging me to pick up my junk journal and make more entries of things I am grateful for.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the lord, all the earth, Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues though all generations.

 

Carol Harrison writes and creates junk journals from her home in Saskatoon. She is passionate about helping people of all ages and abilities find their voice and reach their full potential and encouraging them to find glimmers of hope and glimpses of joy in all circumstances.