grateful – Sarah Bebes Blog

It comes very easily to me, unfortunately. I’m talking about the tendency to complain. How about you? I am trying to consider what my whining about something will add to the conversation. Nothing helpful is the obvious answer. If something is bothering me, I want to change it rather than complain about it. My aim is to develop a habit of thankfulness.

There are so many things to be grateful for! You are invited to join me in this endeavor by writing down one thing you are thankful for each day in November.

“Grumbling slowly hardens our hearts, and worship slowly aligns our hearts with God and his promises. Hard hearts lead to judgement and unrest, but worship leads us to joy and eternal rest.” – Rebecca Faires

Happy (early) Thanksgiving, and thank you for reading this!

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:29)

It was at approximately 12:30am, then 1:40am, then 3am, then 4am. The first two times the older puppy needed to go out due to some digestive issues, the third time the younger puppy needed to go out, and the fourth time my youngest granddaughter was awake with a cough. Then came 6am when my older granddaughter woke up, and the day officially started. I’m sure you get the picture. There wasn’t much sleep that night.

I was all set to complain to Mike, my husband, about the sleepless, much interrupted night, when I thought, “Why?”. What would complaining accomplish? Nothing. The thought occurred to me – what if I banish complaining from my life? Then it became more than a thought, it became a goal. After all, the Bible tells us to “do everything without complaining”. Anyone willing to join me on this quest? It changes everything.

Instead of grumbling that morning, I thought about how grateful I was that our granddaughters spent the night and how much fun we all have with the puppies. It’s well worth little inconveniences, like interrupted sleep once in a while. We had so much fun together!! When I look back on days like that, it will be nice to have joy-filled memories instead of grumbling ones. It seems that as I focus on the good, the difficulties diminish. I’m not naively suggesting that there aren’t legitimate complaints. I just don’t want to be a complainer. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next sleepover, no matter how much or little sleep is involved.

“Do everything without complaining…” Philippians 2:14

Banish the grumble!

Here are just a few joys of my life…