As I sit here on Thanksgiving morning, spending some time in meditation, I am reflecting on the word gratitude. Although I know as a christian, I should be filled to the brim with gratitude daily, I don’t sometimes feel as if I am walking in it. Sometimes, admittedly like today it feels forced.
I listened to one of my now favorite podcasts yesterday entitled Back Seat Rider a show done by the former NBC newscaster Anthony Ponce. He took a huge risk of quitting his comfortable job at NBC to pursue his own vision. He decided he was going to become a lift driver in the city and interview passengers, engaging with them, leading them to open up and share their hearts and own personal stories. The show really gets you thinking about your own heart and story. I really have enjoyed the past few podcasts, one was about risk another about forgiveness and the most recent one he did was on gratitude. The gratitude episode got me thinking about where I stand with gratitude. He concluded on the episode that the one common denominator that he saw in all the interviews with the passengers was that they all experienced a struggle before they could really understand and experience gratitude. Check out Episode 7: Gratitude Anthony Ponce

In my quiet time I came across this verse;
“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” 1 Colossians 1:9-13
As you may have recognized, I have not been able to keep up with my passion, this blog, as of recent! I recognize today that I have become a bit resentful about things not panning out exactly the way I had planned them. My current state has hardened my heart to not clearly see the blessings that have come my way. I am unable to experience gratitude. The words in this verse “So that you may have great endurance and patience” are jumping up and off the page in front of my face. You see what I am recognizing is yes you have to go through a struggle to be able to understand gratitude but for those of you, like me, who are battling to get past the struggle we need endurance and patience to get to the other side. Don’t give up! Push through the struggle, because it builds the qualities of endurance and patience which allows us to pull through in order to receive the next great blessing God has for us. Here at MGL, we are all about being women of inner-beauty. All beautiful and strong women possess the qualities of endurance and patience. Today I will strengthen my inner beauty by choosing to push through this struggle and uncomfortable state by practicing endurance and patience. The storm is temporary, we only need to hold on tightly for a moment until it passes. Don’t let go.
Love in Abundance,
Jamie