The Value of Gratitude

I am grateful for this devotional from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It speaks to the heart of why I have come to passionately believe that gratitude changes everything for the one who offers it up from a thankful soul. Gratitude is a magical place (thanks for that thought Roxanne Chamness-Harling) Here is the devotional: 

"LET THANKFULNESS TEMPER ALL YOUR THOUGHTS. A thankful mind-set keeps you in touch with Me. I hate it when My children grumble, casually despising My sovereignty. Thankfulness is a safeguard against this deadly sin. Furthermore, a grateful attitude becomes a grid through which you perceive your life. Gratitude enables you to see the Light of My Presence shining on all your circumstances. Cultivate a thankful heart, for this glorifies Me and fills you with Joy."
*HEBREWS 12:28-29 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Oh boy...do I ever grumble sometimes! I don't mean to despise His sovereignty...but frankly...either HE is KING or he is not! I either submit or attempt to control. Gratitude lets His light shine through the circumstance. Love that thought. It acts as a filter...helping me see his love that covers every trial, trouble...and our joys and celebrations, too. Let Gratitude shine!

This Scrapbook page is from the February LOAD214: Scrapbooking Mythbusters. Not every scrapbook page needs a picture.  This layout summarized my first year of living gratefully. The text of the layout was from one of my LAST posts of 2013...just before I decided to do another year - with so much encouragement from family and friends around the world. I thought capturing it for my albums would be good. Not picture needed.  

I love my guy...

I do love my guy.  This layout was a challenge to not do a title.  Of course...I can still journal and I did.  This photo was taken at a recent wedding.  I thought it perfect for a layout about his birthday and our relationship...28 years later.

If you are a scrapbooker...how do you journal. My grandpa kept a daily diary but it had more weather information in it than anything else.  My grandmother would add a few occasional tidbits like "the little girls stayed tonight, Ina went to have the baby". I wanted more!  I was one of those little girls and the baby is my brother Matt.

What did they think about keeping us? What did they have planned.  Did they wish for a boy or a girl?  Were we well behaved?  These details matter to me.  Finding their journals with excitement and then with some disappointment...was another reason I choose to fill my time with scrapbooking.  Our history is so much a part of us.  It can define us...break us...or load us up with hope and inspiration.  Journaling matters...not just the event...but the feelings.