Gratitude Isn’t Always Easy

BY MARY GEISEN

My eyes complete a three-hundred-sixty-degree sweep of my surroundings. There is beauty in every direction. The horizon reveals endless water and on the other side, a strip of sand stands guard as the water inches its way toward it. Green vegetation rises among the dunes while woven bits of color provide a feast for the eyes. A sweet breeze cools my hot sun-kissed shoulders and words of gratitude fall easily from my lips.

Days like this feel easy. Breathing comes naturally and anxious thoughts feel like a distant memory. I choke up at the gifts laid before me on this day. God’s gracious heart seems like more than I deserve. And in that moment I go “there” in my mind. The thought of why I am undeserving of abundant love, grace, and hope.

I wish I could tell you that every morning when I wake up, I begin the day with gratitude. That as I stretch, yawn, and unroll the kinks from my body, I see nothing but the goodness of God within my reach. Instead, some days I remember my losses, what ifs, and how I didn’t perform the task as well as I could have believed in the ode to perfection. My mind shuffles away from giving thanks and becomes cluttered with everything else.

The gift in our every day is how the grace of God never runs out. Just when gratitude seems far from my thoughts, God provides glimpses of His beauty that take my breath away, just as He did for me several weeks ago. Everywhere I turned, another example of beauty was in sight and praise was on my lips. Somedays are just plain hard, but taking time to say “thank you” even for the hard opens up a way for God’s goodness to replace the messy.

I need to relearn this lesson multiple times, but find it is worth the time to rediscover the grace that is mine to receive again. Gratitude is a perspective-changer, soul-restorer, and revealer of lies in opening our eyes to the One who sees and knows the innermost parts of our hearts.