Branch On The Vine

By: Alli Matthews

As I think back over the past year, there have been both fun seasons and very difficult seasons as your year may have been too. I’ve been slowly adjusting to what it looks like to be a full-time working adult as far as my schedule goes. Some days are exciting and other days feel like an absolute drag.

A tool I have learned to help me cope with the hardest days – when I don’t want to leave my home or do homework or clean the dishes or whatever it is – is gratitude.

On Friday morning I was in a grumpy mood. I was ready for the weekend. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I was probably pouting. Just feeling ready to be done with school.

I stopped to pick up a sugar cookie latte with soy milk from Starbucks to try to cheer myself up. It wasn’t working.

I arrived to the clinic early and realized I needed to call on God for a true heart change that morning. I sang a worship song to praise him even though I didn’t feel like it. Then, as my therapist recommended, I thought of five things I was thankful for and prayed about those things.

1. The doctor I’m working with is super nice and a great teacher.
2. I get to see my family tomorrow.
3. I have the sweetest husband.
4. My dog (A.K.A. my baby) is so fun and adorable.
5. Jesus sacrificed his innocent life for me so that I can know the God of the universe.

Then, by the grace of God, I felt better. “It’s going to be a good day,” I said to myself as I shut my car door.

Pausing to thank God for what he has given me allowed me to have a whole attitude change because of his powerful work in my heart.

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This week’s blog is going to look a bit different in light of Thanksgiving. I wanted to create a short print-out reflection sheet to help us grow in gratitude together this holiday season. It’s one thing to read about “being thankful” but another thing to implement it into your life. 

Gratitude is a powerful practice. When we thank God for who he is, what he has done, and all that he gives us, he softens our hearts and increases our joy. I’ll share a couple Bible verses so you can read about how God feels about giving thanks:

• Psalm 107:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I think it is God’s will for us to give thanks in all circumstances because he knows how much it changes our outlooks on life for the better.

I encourage you to take 15-30 minutes out of your week to practice giving gratitude to God through this guided reflection. If you don’t have access to a printer, you can write out your answers in a journal or any old paper you have lying around.

Here is the link:

https://branchonthevine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/growing-in-gratitude-journal-reflection.pdf

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Thank you for being here and reading what I write. I feel so honored to hear how God has already used this website to impact people.

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!