Gratitude | Fox-Guidry Mortgage

I had one of those “God is talking to me” mornings this morning…big time. I had already decided this morning (like the very second I woke up) that I was going to write about my “gratitude journal” and share that with you, but then it evolved into other little goodies that I will talk about in a sec!

Over the years, I have always maintained some sort of “gratitude journal”. It was/is a separate notebook where I ONLY wrote down the things that I was thankful for each day…usually in the mornings. I basically just write whatever…there are no rules cause it is my freakin journal. Sometimes I am very deep in my thoughts and sometimes, not so much. I write at least 3 things that I am grateful for at that very moment.

For example, one of my entries today was, “I am grateful that I am somehow not hung over from drinking 3 tequila shots last night while I was at the Gala”…I really AM very thankful for this right now because I have a whole day of appointments and I don’t know WTH I was thinking last night…caught up in a moment…met a new friend…somehow ended up doing 3 shots of tequila. The end. LOL.

Anyway!! Point is this…I have found that the more grateful I am, the more I have to be grateful for. It completely makes me open my eyes and see things around me in a different light. I am thankful for EVERYTHING…big and small…good and bad. You’d be surprised at how different your whole life changes when you look for things to be grateful for. It’s pretty cool.

I have these cards that I pick from quite a bit when I just want to pick a random topic to journal about. They are called, “Empowering Questions” and I got them on Amazon. I just picked a random card today…and lo and behold… today’s question was:

Ok God…I am getting it today!

After that, I started journaling about what I was thankful and that is when things started to evolve. I just started writing and the next thing you know, I started writing things like:

I am a child of God and he loves ME unconditionally
I know that I cannot do what I do without Him.
He is by my side and that makes me smile.
He is almighty, He never changes…He is the Alpha and the Omega and He loves me with an everlasting love that He freely gives.
I am his daughter.
I am never alone.
I can do all things through Him.
I cannot keep Him in my back pocket…He’s too big for that!
He is omnipotent.
There is no limit to what He can do.

Well, shit…that is a LOT to be thankful for. Doesn’t get much better than that.

THEN, I started reading my friend Kassandra’s Book, The Happiness Formula, and it was confirmed for me again…”Don’t you know you are a child of God, so there is nothing to fear” and she talked about being aware of the “GIFT of the PRESENT moment” and not missing out on, “ALL that is real and visible”… AND, “I am the daughter of the Most High God. Holy, Righteous, Blameless and Pure. I am perfectly provided for, perfectly secure.”

THEN, I read my lovely Jesus Calling book and don’t you know, here are the main points:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, who is and was and is to come.
My presence shields you.
Enjoy my good gifts, but do not cling to them, but turn your attention to the Giver of all good things and rest in the knowledge that you are complete in me.
The one thing you absolutely need is the one thing that you can never lose: My presence with you.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:17

THEN, I got a text from a friend of mine to just check in on me to see how I was…and he ended his text with, “Sometimes I just wake up feeling grateful.”

Heck, if THAT is not God talking to me, then I don’t know what to tell ya! I get it, God.

Thank you for reminding me so subtly (LOL) about the importance of gratitude and that I should always thank YOU. I have what I have because of YOU. I am who I am because of YOU. YOU are almighty. YOU are my father. I am Your daughter. I will be grateful for my blessings, my many many blessings and I will do great things with them, through YOU.

I took this picture about 10 years ago when I was visiting my home in Buffalo, NY. I have always loved the smile on this man’s face. He had a good story. When I met him, his wife had passed away a few weeks prior. He just needed someone to talk to and I was there at that moment. We talked, we laughed, we cried and I made him dance with me! I took this picture after our dance. He was happy right here.