Thirty Days of Thankfulness

  It starts out with this blueberry who is weeping and whining. Madame Blueberry is her name. She is upset because she does not have enough STUFF. She has pictures all over her house of things that her neighbors and friends have that she wants. She scrolls through her pictures everyday mourning and lamenting over the things she does not have. Pinterest, anyone? Nothing she has is as good as what her neighbor has.
  Down the street, a new STUFFmart opens and is filled to the brim with all of the things in the pictures in her house. She fills her carts with all of the shiny new frills that are going to make her happy. A window scraper and a gross of toilet paper. A rachet set and pliers
and surround sound amplifiers. A solar turkey chopper and a padded gopher bopper. Flannel shirts for looking grungy and some rope for goin' bunji. 
  In the next aisle, a little boy, Junior, is begging his dad for this awesome shiny new train set, but his father tells him they do not have the money and that if he wanted, he could get a ball. Junior really wants the train set but agrees to the ball if his dad promises to play ball in the park with him later and then they break out in song:

I thank God for this day,
For our trip to the mall,
For my mom and my dad,
For my big, red bouncy ball!

For our home on the ground,
For His love that's all around,
That's why I say thanks every day!

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!
I'm glad for what I have,
That's an easy way to start!

For the love that He shares,
'Cause He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks every day! 

  By the end of the movie Madame Blueberry realizes that none of her fancy new items in her cart are going to make her happy, but that happiness comes from having a truly thankful heart.  

   Here are some things the Bible has to say about thankfulness.

Psalm 50:14: "Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most    High."  

Colossians 2:7 "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful."

Colossians 4:2 "Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart."

I Thessalonians 5:18 "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

  My main goal this month is to begin to cultivate a truly thankful heart. Where thankfulness is absent, envy, complaining and bitterness abound.  I have found those things sneaking around in my heart lately and they are not welcome.

  My secondary goal this month is to post each day about something I am thankful for. Aside from brushing my teeth, reading my Bible and feeding the kids, I have a hard time doing anything consistently on a daily basis so this is a big one for me, but it is also very important to me so I really want to stick to it. I also really want to get into writing more so this will kill two birds with one stone, kind of. 

  So, today I am thankful that God has given me a teachable heart. So much so that a preschool-aged vegetable and a not-so-blue-anymore blueberry can make me realize how selfish I can be sometimes :) My youth pastor, Barry Darnell, told us to always be teachable and that is something that has always stuck with me. I have a tendency to be pretty stubborn so I know it is by God's grace that I learn anything. I am thankful that God does not leave us the way we are but is constantly molding us to be more like Him. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" Colossians 3:10 says, "Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him." I am thankful that He is making all things new.

Well, that's all for today. Check back tomorrow for another installment of Thirty Days of Thankfulness.