In the challenging times we are living in, it is more important than ever to deliberately look for things to be grateful for; to focus on what we do have, rather than what we don’t have.

I’m saying this to remind myself as much as anyone else.

I have to admit, I have struggled to be content about some things lately.  But I know from past experience, that no matter what you are going through, being grateful for what you do have can be truly life changing.

As we begin to focus on the positive things in our life, it tends to lift us up out of depression and pain and give us hope for the future.

One of my favorite people on You Tube, has recently purchased a 14th century mansion in the English country side.  Now they are completely redecorating it and purchasing luxury furniture to fit it out.

I have to admit, I have found it a bit hard to watch lately.  I live in a small, old, run down house on a main road and we still have quite a decent size mortgage.

But when I choose to be thankful on purpose, it changes my mindset completely.

I am so grateful that we have our own home.  It’s warm and cozy and it’s enough. 

I especially love how the sunshine streams in our bedroom window all day long – the sunshine is so healing.

As my husband has said many times:

‘it’s not much, but it’s ours and it’s full of love’.

I have to admit this is true.  It helps you to see beyond the cracks in the walls, the flaking paint on the window sills and the broken tiles around the fire place. 

But it is ours, and it is full of love.

This is something to be very grateful for.  And it reminds me of the miracle God has done in our 

For many, many years, our home was full of drunkenness, fighting, sadness, depression, anxiety and apathy.  We have been on the brink of divorce more than once.

It is truly a miracle that God has completely restored our marriage.  So much healing has come to our home.  It is now filled with peace, calm, laughter and love.  We love each other more now than we did, when we got married 30 years ago.

Many, many years ago, when things were at their worst in our marriage, I started to wish I had a different life partner.  I really thought it would be easier to start over.  Only the Grace of God stopped me from doing the unthinkable and betraying our sacred marriage vows. 

I will be forever grateful for one special person, who advised me:

Next time you feel like walking away, I want you to sit down and write down all the things you love about your husband.

This wasn’t easy and I really didn’t want to do it.  It felt like it would have been a lot easier to just walk away, but I followed their advice and before I knew it, I had written a list of more than 20 things I loved about my husband.  And I can tell you, it really helped.

It reminded me of the man I had fallen in love with and married.

Knowing that he was still in there, somewhere, buried deep within his own pain and numbed every night with large quantities of alcohol.

Writing this list of things I loved about my husband; things I was grateful for, really worked.  It was one of the things that helped me to stay the course, for well over fifteen years of heartache, when it looked like things would never change.

I am ever so glad that we stuck it out.  God has completely restored our marriage.  We love each other now more than ever. 

Now our house truly is ‘full of love’.

I am forever grateful to the person who told me to write down all the things I loved about my husband; all the things I was grateful for about him, when I was right at the point of walking away.

I know that many of you are facing the seemingly impossible right now.  Perhaps, like me, your marriage feels like it’s on the brink of break down; perhaps you have lost your job or you have had to close your business down; perhaps you have a child who has gone off the rails and is caught up in drug addiction.

No matter what is going on in your life, there is always things you can
be grateful for. 

I want to encourage you to take time today, and every day, to be grateful on purpose.

Write down what you do have, rather than focusing on what you don’t have.  You might be really surprised just how many things are still good in your life; things to be truly thankful for.

And the most surprising thing is how much better you feel, when you approach life through a lens of gratitude.

I guess this comes a little easier to me as I’m naturally a ‘glass half full’ kind of person, but even if you are a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person, you will be amazed at how much better you will feel, by choosing to be grateful on purpose.

In Philippians 4:11–13 the Bible says “I have learned to be content, whatever
the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry; whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through Him (God) who gives me strength”.

And if you are in need, as so many people are at this terrible time of the Coronavirus pandemic, God says in Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.

In the challenging times we are living in, it is more important than ever to deliberately look for things to be grateful for; to focus on what we do have, rather than what we don’t have.

I’m saying this to remind myself as much as anyone else.

I have to admit, I have struggled to be content about some things lately.  But I know from past experience, that no matter what you are going through, being grateful for what you do have can be truly life changing.

As we begin to focus on the positive things in our life, it tends to lift us up out of depression and pain and give us hope for the future.

One of my favorite people on You Tube, has recently purchased a 14th century mansion in the English country side.  Now they are completely redecorating it and purchasing luxury furniture to fit it out.

I have to admit, I have found it a bit hard to watch lately.  I live in a small, old, run down house on a main road and we still have quite a decent size mortgage.

But when I choose to be thankful on purpose, it changes my mindset completely.

I am so grateful that we have our own home.  It’s warm and cozy and it’s enough. 

I especially love how the sunshine streams in our bedroom window all day long – the sunshine is so healing.

As my husband has said many times:

‘it’s not much, but it’s ours and it’s full of love’.

I have to admit this is true.  It helps you to see beyond the cracks in the walls, the flaking paint on the window sills and the broken tiles around the fire place. 

But it is ours, and it is full of love.

This is something to be very grateful for.  And it reminds me of the miracle God has done in our marriage.

Our house wasn’t always full of love.

For many, many years, our home was full of drunkenness, fighting, sadness, depression, anxiety and apathy.  We have been on the brink of divorce more than once.

It is truly a miracle that God has completely restored our marriage.  So much healing has come to our home.  It is now filled with peace, calm, laughter and love.  We love each other more now than we did, when we got married 30 years ago.

Many, many years ago, when things were at their worst in our marriage, I started to wish I had a different life partner.  I really thought it would be easier to start over.  Only the Grace of God stopped me from doing the unthinkable and betraying our sacred marriage vows. 

I will be forever grateful for one special person, who advised me:

‘next time you feel like walking away, I want you to sit down and write down all the things you love about your husband’.

This wasn’t easy and I really didn’t want to do it.  It felt like it would have been a lot easier to just walk away, but I followed their advice and before I knew it, I had written a list of more than 20 things I loved about my husband.  And I can tell you, it really helped.

It reminded me of the man I had fallen in love with and married. 

Knowing that he was still in there, somewhere, buried deep within his own pain and numbed every night with large quantities of alcohol.

Writing this list of things I loved about my husband; things I was grateful for, really worked.  It was one of the things that helped me to stay the course, for well over fifteen years of heart ache, when it looked like things would never change.

I am ever so glad that we stuck it out.  God has completely restored our marriage.  We love each other now more than ever. 

Now our house truly is ‘full of love’.

I am forever grateful to the person who told me to write down all the things I loved about my husband; all the things I was grateful for about him, when I was right at the point of walking away.

I know that many of you are facing the seemingly impossible right now.  Perhaps, like me, your marriage feels like it’s on the brink of break down; perhaps you have lost your job or you have had to close your business down; perhaps you have a child who has gone off the rails and is caught up in drug addiction.

No matter what is going on in your life, there is always things you can be grateful for. 

I want to encourage you to take time today, and every day, to be grateful on purpose.

Write down what you do have, rather than focusing on what you don’t have.  You might be really surprised just how many things are still good in your life; things to be truly thankful for.

And the most surprising thing is how much better you feel, when you approach life through a lens of gratitude.

I guess this comes a little easier to me as I’m naturally a ‘glass half full’ kind of person, but even if you are a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person, you will be amazed at how much better you will feel, by choosing to be grateful on purpose.

In Philippians 4: 11 – 13 the Bible says “I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry; whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through Him (God) who gives me strength”.

And if you are in need, as so many people are at this terrible time of the Coronavirus pandemic, God says in Philippians 4:6-7.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.