I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It’s been a blessed time for our family.

I also wanted to let you know I am grateful for you and I hope that sharing my heart through my journey is helpful to you.

I recently have been listening to some amazing podcasts, one that has become a favorite is Limitless with Deanna Herrin. I highly encourage you to go take a listen if becoming a better version of yourself is something you desire. Right now she’s doing a series on Mindset, and it’s just so good! But, since I started listening to her, I decided to go back to the beginning and listen all the way through! And, about this time last year (2021), she had a Gratitude series. It really spoke life into my heart, and I feel like if something is a Godsend, the Lord often confirms it’s from Him when another person says the same types of things within a close proximity of hearing the first message. Well, that’s exactly what happened! I listened to Deanna’s Limitless podcast on Gratitude and speaking life into others by expressing our gratitude for them in our lives, and then my Pastor also preached a sermon on the exact same thing! Their challenges were a tad different, but still the same! Deanna challenged everyone to write a note of gratitude and speak life into people for 30 days….one a day. My pastor challenged us to speak life and gratitude to people either by saying it to them in person or by writing a note, email, text, etc. They both also talked about how it is impossible to think negatively at the same time you are being grateful. Gratefulness negates negativity! And, I know from research that 70%-80% of our thinking (about ourselves or others – including our self-talk which probably takes up the majority of our thoughts) is negative! So, being grateful is such an important practice. Even when difficulties and trials are occurring in our lives we must find even some small things each day to be grateful for. It is so good for overall health! So, my challenge for you, even though Thanksgiving has passed, is to start a gratitude journal and write a minimum of 5 things each day that you are grateful for….it can be as simple as the smell of a fire, or the crunch of fall leaves or as big as the Lord’s goodness, or family connections. And, speaking life and gratitude to others…..it’s just so powerful! Who doesn’t like to hear that they are thought of, loved, or special to someone and why? If you want to get the family involved, make a gratitude jar where everyone places slips of paper with things they are grateful for, then every month or quarter, go through and read them. Make it a new habit that’s not just during the Thanksgiving holiday, but all year through!

Next week I’ll be back to sharing about what I’m learning through the Wellness Revelation. Stay tuned for the Advent season where I’ll be sharing some devotions I’m writing leading up to Christmas where we remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus.

Love,

Dena