Thankfulness

Thankfulness

The word thankfulness or gratitude seems to be popping up everywhere at the moment.  On facebook, my newsfeed is filled with people stating 3 things they are thankful for that day. On Instagram, people are committing to take a picture everyday of something they are grateful for… it’s like a Gratitude revolution is taking place and I absolutely LOVE IT!   Studies have shown that thankfulness improves our physical and emotional health.  Also that holding onto feelings of thankfulness boosts our immune system and increases blood supply to our heart. Wow!

Thankfulness is a prominent bible theme too.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says,  ‘Be joyful always, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”.

Did you catch that? Give thanks in ALL circumstances.  Thankfulness should be a way of life for us, naturally flowing from our hearts and mouths.        

“The whole earth is full of God’s glory. Sky, land and sea, heavy and saturated with God- why do we always forget?”

 Ann Voskamp

By giving thanks continually we are reminded of how much we do have. These days we tend to focus a lot on what we don’t have and begin to feel really dissatisfied with life.  Our consumerist society has a lot to answer for.  We always want to have the latest gadget, a bigger house and of course another camera lens, when most of the time it isn’t possible. When we focus on our blessings rather than our ‘wants’, we are happier. When we start thanking God for things we usually take for granted, our perspective changes… and we realize we could not even exist without the merciful blessings of God!

     Every single molecule, every smile, every taste of sunshine is a gift.

Yes, I would LOVE a bigger house, but im so thankful that I have a house in the first place, so many people are doing it way tougher than me.  You see, Just like that, with one simple thankful thought, my perspective shifts. Thankfulness is powerful… this is why God wants us to give thanks continually. 

We can have a thankful heart towards God even when we do not feel thankful and times are tough. It is hard and may even seem impossible. I know I have failed in this area many times. It is at these times that we need to discipline ourselves to look for the good, instead of complaining and grumbling and feeling like it’s not fair! We need to remember the blessings from last month, from last week, from yesterday and thank God for them! We need to fix our minds on things that are worthy of praise.

We need to say, “God, thankyou that you are in control, and that You are bigger than the problem.”

 “God, thank you that You can bring good out of evil.”

 “God, thankyou that you have great plans for me”

 God, thankyou that You love me”

‘Thankyou for the flowers,  for fresh air, for coffee, for clothes to wear."

We need to look at what we have and be grateful for it.  Continually, in all seasons.  It is life changing and develops our faith.

“I want to see beauty. In the ugly, in the sink, in the suffering, in the daily.” Ann Voskamp

Another thought to put out there. In developing gratitude we need to look for beauty, in others and in the world around us. We just need to walk outside and we are surrounded by God’s beautiful creation.

  Thank Him for the beauty you see. ! I have found that it is in these moments that I feel              connected to the Creator, and He speaks to my soul in a real personal way. I feel blessed and at  peace. I witnessed this thismorning as we were driving down the outlet into town.  Todd saw the Derwent River, shimmering in the sun and said, "Thankyou Lord for this amazing place that we live. What a blessing.”  After that he teared up, it was beautiful to see. His gratitude created a moment. It was just beautiful. Seek out beauty in nature and be thankful.

 I read this awesome quote:

“All beauty is only reflecetion. And whether I am conscious of it or not, it is a glimpse of His face to which I bow down” Ann Voskamp

 What a beautiful thought!!

I don’t want to go through life feeling sad and grumpy about things. I want to live feeling blessed and grateful, and it is through continual thankfulness that I can!!!  We are happier, more positive people when we live constantly thanking God for his blessings, big and small and look for His beauty in creation daily. 

What are you thankful for today? Im thankful that you are reading my blog.

Love Bec.

Ally and Bec

Once upon a time there was a 12 year old girl called Bec.
One day she was sitting at church when a young, freckled faced girl walked into the building.
This girl smiled at Bec, and Bec immediately knew that she wanted to be friends with this girl.

This girls name was Alison Lord. She walked into the building and wondered who that strange, childish girl, watching her was. Little did she know that Bec was putting together a plan, a plan that would set them up to be friends, a friendship that has now been strong for 20 years. This is our story.

Younger days performing 'We're a Couple of Swells'.

It was the January school holidays after year 6.  I got Mum to invite the Lord family over for Sunday lunch so we could get to know each other. I remember taking Ally outside and showing off by doing cartwheels off our beam. She wouldn't even attempt it. Ally was all set to start at Kingston High and then her parents decided to send her to my school... yes... it was all coming together nicely. Before school went back I invited her over for a sleepover so we could really get to know each other. She chatted about boys the whole time and I thought she was wild. I managed to tame her and we became the best of friends. We were pretty much inseparable from that moment on.

We went through high school and youth group together, while growing up in the same church. We were so innocent. We spent our time watching Shirley Temple movies, playing schools and churches (in the early days)and  recording ourselves onto tapes for hours as we made up radio stations. We sang and danced. Ally is a brilliant singer, I used to go and watch her sing in Eisteddfods. We had crushes on boys, I was the flirt, she wasn't so much.

After high school we went of to Guilford together for College, where I may or may not have pushed he into a wall, and knocked her unconscious for a few seconds. I thought i'd killed her and ran off ready to hide! Here we both suffered through 2 years of music with Mr Parkinson and I had the privilege of watching her kiss Caine in Kismet, haha :) Then we both enrolled into a Bachelor of Arts, choosing 2 of the same subjects. Wherever Ally was, I was. We even did a year of Italian School on a Saturday morning during year 10. We got our drivers license in the same week, and our first wild trip out together on our own was to Maccas- oh the freedom we experienced that week!!

I have so many stories I could tell you, like the time I told Debby (Ally's mum) that Ally had a date that night with a guy who rode a motorbike...I told the whole story about how they met... she was so worried and panicked! She was trying to get Keith (Ally's dad) to tell Ally she couldn't go. Well of course I'd just made the whole thing up and when Deb found out she chased me down the steps and out the front door, screaming, "Im going to get you Rebecca Stossich." HA There was lots of laughter afterwards :)

A trip down memory lane...

Did I mention that we used to dress up and take photos. We must have been pretty bored?

Our lives have now taken different paths. Ally lives in Melbourne with her husband Adam and Im still here in Tassie with my tribe. We don't see each other much, but when we do, we just pick up from where we left off.  A couple of months ago she called, and when I heard her voice I just started laughing, then this made her laugh... I mean, who needs hello when you can just laugh.

THANKYOU SO MUCH Al my pal, Alsation, Charlie, Ally for being my beast (not a typo) friend. We were the best. We still are pretty great. SEE YOU SOON :)

Love Bec x