It’s “Black Friday” today, (who created that day anyway? Geeesh) I’m all about getting savings, but more often than not, the more we consume, the less time we have for what’s really important in life: relationships. Gotta keep it in balance, heh? When our consumeristic society puts so much emphasis on aquiring things and fostering discontentment, our gratitude factor wains and we can loose sight on what we already have.

Being grateful- being thankful. There is a subtle difference.

The Oxford dictionary defines the word grateful as “showing an appreciation of kindness”, - so being thankful is more of a feeling and being grateful is an action.

This week, most of my American family and friends celebrate thanksgiving in the states , (yet others choose not to “celebrate” the holiday in Canada or the USA given historical injustices associated with it.) Regardless if we mark a day on our calendars or not, I’ve been meditating on verses more lately on what it means to be grateful. What it means to be truly thankful. This goes beyond our country of origin or stories of settlers & Indigenous relations in days gone by.

No- It has to do with the status of our heart, the condition of our soul. The Bible addresses how our soul is to cultivate thankfulness and show gratitude by expressing it in faith, words, prayer, actions…In good times and bad, I can attest that having an attitude of gratitude makes all the difference in the world. It’s a miracle really. Jesus paved the way. A grateful heart is key on our journey of restoration. The following scripture verses reminded me today of my source of gratitude- the word that sustains me, fuels me, reminds me of my core:

Have we:

Received with thanksgiving?

Given thanks in all circumstances?

Given thanks to the Lord?

Been overflowing in thankfulness?

In prayer and thanksgiving, made our requests known to God?

These scriptures are just a few for us to meditate on, glean wisdom from and remind ourselves that thankfulness and gratitude come from the depths of our being. Our spirit- soul- body is designed to function from that intimate place of connection, communion and covenant with our Creator. The word of God has MUCH to say about the topic my friend.

Wether we are 5 or 50, 10 or 100, we are NEVER too young or too old to practice gratitude, and encourage others to practice it. The Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday, we continued the tradition of going around the table and voicing what we were thankful for. We hosted my parents as they were up from the USA (praise God, as the border was closed to them for far too long with this pandemic.) This American Thanksgiving was very non traditional for our family. 4 of our core fam jam of 10 were able to pull away together and today was simply fabulous. We went for a hike, and out for a lovely dinner. As we wound down the day, we challenged one another to verbalize what we are thankful for and how we can express gratitude more to one another. The actions mean more than the words no doubt. There is gratitude and thankfulness expressed to God and then there is the call to express it to one another. Both require our feelings and emotions to be unleashed and healed with the call to action in some way. LIVING a life of Gratitude and Thankfulness.

Gratitude, Thankfulness- We all need it.

Without it, we loose a sense of our life’s purpose, and we can be tempted to fill ourselves with things that will never truly fulfill us, we can take one another for granted and can become bitter by life’s trials and challenges that are thrown our way.

We MUST do all we can to try and discipline our soul to be grateful no matter what.

One way to express to our gratitude, is to write our our thoughts and feelings through journaling or praying and giving thanks to our Creator and our loved ones. The Holy Spirit gives us the discipline to be patient with ourselves and others when being grateful is a journey yet to be discovered or reimagined.

I’d ❤️ to hear what you are thankful for- grateful for today! When we voice it- write it- declare it, the atmosphere changes in our soul and in our world.

Do you agree? Share in the comments below 👇 (or private message me friend)! 💻 https://www.jodikozan.com/contact

If you are struggling to have to be more grateful- thankful in life, I’ve included here a one page PDF daily Gratitude Journal worksheet to help you get focused on:

- Daily affirmations ( jotting down a key scripture, a prayer, a word or phrase that fuels your attitude of gratitude. (Dig deep here. Ideas include: Scriptures on Identity, purpose, or quotes that will inspire you!)

-Jotting down 3 things to be thankful for today (This could be relationships, places, experiences, a powerful resource that inspired you, lessons you learned etc).

-Journaling 3 good things that happened to you today. (This is a practice that helps you live in the present. The above can be more general, like “I am grateful for my job, my family etc”, where 3 good things that happened to you today is specific like: “I am grateful for my neighbour Cynthia who got me to laugh today when I needed a good belly laugh on our walk,” or “My husband bringing me coffee to me in bed”, or “The way our dog Teddy was so excited to see me today”, or “How my grandson Kolten seems genuine when he is sorry and wanted to hug me without prompting”., let alone the deeply spiritual points of gratitude where God is speaking to you and you give Him thanks for being so personal to you and for you. “I am grateful to you Jesus for meeting me where I was at today, hearing my prayers”, or being grateful for a verse you have read and than jotting that down as a place of thankfulness how you received that truth into your heart etc. You get the jist?

Black Friday may be the craze for all the pre-Christmas sales, but what I am most preoccupied with is that my soul is not blackened by bitterness, an ungrateful heart, apathy or being just plain selfish.