It's birthday time! Cue the confetti, grab your paper hat, and let's celebrate!
Like many of you, I believe some annual milestones are worth noting ... and others deserve to be casually ignored or conveniently forgotten.
65 years? A real clunker, complete with a harsh, whiny post that begged to be re-titled 3 hours after it was published.
63 Years? A serendipitous LOVE fest.
60 Years {the new 30}? An enthusiastic ode to my 60+ year old friends who made aging look like a walk in the park.
What to do with #66?
The word gratitude quickly comes to the forefront. This mindset doesn't come naturally to many of us. It necessitates a distinct change of heart, a Christ-centered focus, and most certainly a moratorium on whining, self-pity, and grumbling.
So straight from my serendipitous ❤ to yours, here's 66 snippets of gratitude randomly gathered from six years of blog posts ... and a first come, first served 7 book giveaway.
I will praise the LORD at all times.
I will constantly speak His praises.
{Psalm 34:1}
1. My inner gratitude list is long, and certainly flourishing far better than my sandy backyard garden.
2. An outpouring of gratitude for daily joys isn't just for the month of November.
3. Gratitude waits patiently, expectantly, hopefully, just waiting to be scooped up, claimed with joy, and celebrated!
4. It's no secret that I'm especially grateful for those who jump into the ongoing dialogues on a regular basis, complete with gusto, wisdom, and a hefty sense of humor.
5. I'm so grateful at the way the Lord orchestrated all the moving parts together again.
6. I am concerned, even as I'm so grateful for her strong commitment to Christ.
7. I'm smitten with gratitude for graces small and big indeed.
8. I'm beyond grateful that we're doing life together even from afar.
9. I've seen Him answer prayers in recent weeks in ways that have left me weeping in relief and gratitude.
10. Please know that I'm all kinds of grateful and inspired and encouraged by what's happening around here.
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11. So grateful to have you receive these little whispers in your inbox.
12. I am forever grateful, forever in awe at what God did during that span of time.
13. All is well. I'm so grateful.
14. And I'm grateful to be turning the corner and opening the door after a long, challenging, faith-stretching stint in God's waiting room.
15. Our souls overflow with gratitude, Lord.
16. Contentment has emerged as a lovely gift borne from the hours of reflection, morning devotional time invested with the Lord, a purposeful focus on naming and speaking gratitude day in and out.
17. I'm grateful for every minute of it all.
18. God, accept the praises that rise full and strong from hearts that overflow with a joyous gratitude.
19. And I've just gotta tell Him how deep and wide my love and gratitude flows.
20. I'm especially grateful for all those who took a bit of their valuable time to hang around and chat when you certainly could have been somewhere else.
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21. I couldn't be more delighted ... or grateful.
22. When we choose to tend to our souls, bodies, homes, and screens in ways that are winsome and life giving, we will be fortified with a spirit of peace, confidence, and gratitude as the day continues to evolve.
23. Breathe deep and smile with gratitude each step of the way.
24. His Word will take you back to that place where gratitude abounds, even in the midst of the ugliest or saddest of circumstances.
25. And for God's peaceful, steady presence, I'm grateful.
26. Gratitude waits patiently, expectantly, hopefully, just waiting to be scooped up, claimed with joy, and celebrated!
27. Ever and always, I overflow with gratitude and praise God for His faithful loving care.
28. And gratitude for our home, the haven that over time has become our space, our place.
29. These posts are all about noticing what's going on around us and capturing and claiming gratitude as we do so.
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30. This imperfect heart overflows with gratitude for childhood memories way back in the day ... and this, the here and now.
31. I want to offer you my simple but heartfelt gratitude for spreading the word that single women in the church don't have to feel isolated, and that together, we can join hearts and hands to spark a fire that can change the world for Christ, no matter what our marital status.
32. You hope that someday there'll be a Phase 2, but if that doesn't pan out, you'll still be overflowing with gratitude over what God's allowed you to accomplish.
33. I'm forever grateful. For there are no regrets.
34. He leads. We follow. Our souls overflow with unspeakable gratitude.
35. I breathe gratefulness that my body still works.
36. Who has time to indulge in endless self-absorption or obnoxious behaviors when you're on the lookout for ways to bless others with your gratitude?
37. And I am so very grateful for the community that God is growing and nurturing in this place.
38. Gratitude for prayer increases yet again.
39. There's always something to spark gratefulness, many occasions to breathe fragrant prayers of thanksgiving, and multiple reasons to count those blessings that are heaped up right and left, just begging to be embraced.
40. List 3 gratitudes each day.
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41. Even in this unsettling season, there are always things to be grateful for.
42. Keep a little gratitude journal.
43. I know you're joining me in heaving a deep sigh of mingled relief and gratitude that the season of the relentless nor'easters is over and done with.
44. We are overflowing with an abounding gratitude laced with peace-filled joy.
45. Mom's expression of simple gratitude has stayed with me as I've been puttering in our own home in recent days.
46. If ever we needed to speak gratitude it would be right about now.
47. As we journal through weird seasons we claim gratitude for all God is inviting us to in the midst of the unsteadiness.
48. How very good it is to rejoice in the dailyness of those simple grace moments that bring a smile, a tug of gratitude.
49. Being fully present to another soul requires 4 gratitude-fueled distinctives that have been cultivated over time.
50. I'm grateful for what God's doing as I head into yet another year of writing online.
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51. The craziness of life can kick off an onslaught of gratitude that we simply must speak outloud.
52. The exhausting decorating marathons are gone ... instead, a peaceful kind of gratitude holds center stage.
53. May abiding gratitude and endless praise be our by-words.
54. To say I'm grateful would be an understatement.
55. God honors our sacrifice of praise and propels us forward as we purposely cultivate gratitude in our minds and hearts ... and speak it out loud and often.
56. We are grateful for a place to lay our heads that's safe and warm.
57. Gratitude. Embracing it. Speaking it. Living it out. First in our own souls and then in conversations with whoever God brings on our paths.
58. My heart is filled with gratitude for you, wise and cherished readers.
59. We crawl out of our endless self-absorption and begin to glimpse new rays of hope, sweet whispers of life, opportunities to reach out, and answered prayers that await our grateful attention.
60. And I am forever grateful for Your never ending love and Jesus' sacrifice.
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61. We claim gratitude in the discoveries of 'whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy {Philippians 4:8}.
62. Perhaps joy, gratitude, and gentle memories flood your soul.
63. To say that I'm grateful for the gift of who God's shaped my husband to be would be a ridiculously vast understatement.
64. When someone gives us a gift, it usually brings us a gratitude-laced joy.
65. And for God's peaceful, steady presence, I'm grateful.
66. And the huge sense of relief and the deepest gratitude that's emerged from following Him repeatedly through the next open door outweighs the myriad of frustrations, disappointments, and sadness that have woven their way into this year.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
{Psalm 40:3}
Gratefully His & Gratefully Yours,
Linda
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THE 7 BOOK GIVEAWAY
Let's celebrate! Scroll down and select the book you want. Tell me your #1 choice and #2 choice in the comment section. Please be sure to leave your name, too.
Email readers - click on the title of the post & come over to the website to join the party.
First come, first served. Titles will be crossed out when I verify your request. Books are in almost like new condition. USA only, please.
Keep an eye on the comment section to find out the status of your request. Sorry - I am not able to track you down to notify you or ask for your mailing address! I must have your snail mail address within 48 hours or you forfeit your book.
linda stoll @ juno . com
CHOOSE A BOOK
Her Devotional:
5 Minutes a Day For Teens
Brighton Books
Daily Light
for Every Day
Anne Graham Lotz
Life-Changing Bible Verses
You Should Know
Erwin & Rebecca Lutzer
31 Days of Drawing Near to God:
Resting Securely in His Delight
Ruth Myers
The Passion of Jesus Christ
John Piper
The Power of the Cross
Charles Stanley
The Pursuit of God:
The Human Thirst For the Divine
A.W. Tozer
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thanks
