Thankful Thursday

Today, for Thankful Thursday, I thought I would share a conversation I had with my Lord on Monday evening...

It all started out with me having a grumpy and complaining attitude... I was grumpy because I wanted my family to help me clean up after dinner. I didn't want to ask for help, I just wanted them to know that I wanted help and to get up and help me. I had cooked dinner, cleaned up all the dishes after dinner, and we were all having a brownie and some ice cream. I was the last one at the table eating my brownie... every one else had finished and left their dirty dishes sitting on the table.

Now our boys have been trained to take their dishes to the sink, and my husband has also been trained :) However, as I sat there by myself, looking at all the dirty dishes left on the table (while the dishwasher was open and conveniently waiting for more dishes to be put in), I couldn't help but feel a bit angry and slightly resentful. They had gone off to do something fun and I was left in the kitchen to CLEAN!

So I cleaned up the dishes, started the dishwasher, and disappeared to soak in a bubble bath. Well, as I was soaking and trying to relax, I heard that still, small voice:

"You need to have a thankful heart."

"You need to focus on me and not on yourself or on others."

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ."

So... I chose obedience to the voice of God, and I began to tell Him the things I was thankful for.

Here are some of them:

• I am thankful that I have a family to cook for and to clean up after...
• I am thankful that we have money to buy food to eat,... good food, healthy food...
• I am thankful for my children... there are those who desperately want children and yet for some reason have not been blessed with them yet...
• I am thankful for modern conveniences, like my dishwasher, my garbage disposal, my trash can with the foot pedal so I can open it with my foot...
• I am thankful for my big bathtub so that at times I can break away and relax...
• And I am so thankful for the still, small voice of God... thankful that He chooses to speak to me, thankful that I hear His voice, and thankful for the God-given desire to respond in obedience to His voice...

So, since Monday evening I have been very conscious of my attitude and whether or not it has been the same as that of Jesus Christ. I am consciously trying to have a thankful attitude in all that I do, even the everyday mundane things that often do not evoke thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for that really there should be no room for grumbling in my heart. May God help me to always chose thanksgiving over grumbling...

For more TT posts visit Laurie at Women Taking a Stand.