Simple Ways To Embrace Your Blessings
The older I get, the more I realize how quickly time moves and how small each life seems in comparison to the grand timeline of history. It feels like just yesterday Jesus was walking this earth, yet here we are, over 2,000 years later. In the blink of an eye, we too will come and go, just like everyone before us.
Sometimes, it feels impossibly hard to slow down, step back, and truly see the life right in front of us. Maybe your life feels messy, hard, or even suffocating. But perhaps what you need is to pause, catch your breath, and count your blessings out loud.
I’m no expert on gratitude, and I certainly haven’t mastered the art of slowing down to reflect on my blessings. But I can tell you this: the more you say “thank you” to God, the more you cultivate a heart of gratitude—and gratitude brings an overwhelming sense of peace.
Maybe peace feels out of reach for you right now. Life might be pushing you along, pulling you in a hundred directions with responsibilities that make it feel almost impossible to pause and reflect. Yet that’s what’s so incredible about gratitude: it’s not a pill you take or a string of empty words. It’s a gift. Gratitude stirs something deep within us, shifts our focus, and allows us to savor the good already all around us.
Maybe you can relate, but I’m the kind of person who tends to put things off unless they’re big, blaring, and demanding my attention. I procrastinate, forget too easily, and if there’s one thing I’ve truly mastered, it’s the art of distraction. I’m easily sidetracked, which is why I rely so heavily on structured routines and to-do lists.
This hit me hard a few months ago as I was thinking about Thanksgiving—especially because this year looks a little different. My family is in Hawaii, taking time to slow down, catch up with each other, and make memories I know will last a lifetime. As I thought about Thanksgiving, I realized how incredibly blessed I am to share a big meal in a tropical paradise with 14 other family members—and oh yeah, my now fiancé, too. It’s this moment of reflection and realization when I rummaged through my mom’s desk, grabbed a permanent marker, four large square pieces of cardboard-like paper, some tape, and opened Pinterest (probably my most-used app). My goal was to create a big, undeniable way to record my blessings and cultivate a heart of gratitude—because I know it’s something I often lack.
Since around September, I’ve been keeping a little thankfulness board, and it’s been a constant reminder of this beautiful life I’ve been given. This Thanksgiving, I want to encourage you to add something to your day that reminds you of your blessings. Maybe that means spending a little extra time saying “thank you” in prayer, establishing a better morning routine to dig into the Word, or simply documenting the small joys throughout your day on a big collage of cardboard-like paper. Whatever it is, find a way to reflect on your blessings. It’s incredible how simply remembering what Christ has already given us can cultivate a heart of gratitude—and gratitude truly makes life a whole lot sweeter.
