Count Your Blessings / Be More Intentional {Day 13.0 & 14.0}

I fell behind a little so this is day 13 and 14 in the same post. Thanks for sticking with me. 

{Day 13.0} Count your Blessings

I was having a hard time figuring out what I wanted to write for this post. I used the term 'count your blessings' but I feel like this term is a bit cliche. A phrase we overuse as commonplace. So when I use these words what I mean is looking at things with a thankful heart. 

I'll admit it, I was a complainer. In my 'just surviving' days I would focus on everything I thought I didn't have, things I thought would make my life better or easier. Counting your blessings is more about the heart. Am I thankful for all that God has given me? Am I thankful for His love, mercy and grace? Is my heart right before God? Or do I just just grumble and complain all the time.
I still have some work to do for sure, but I try to keep my heart in check with these questions.
The Word says… give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
This is not always easy to do but we must try. It reminds me of this image I saw the other morning,

I just love that illustration. You may have been handed a cactus but you don't have to sit on it and you  don't have to stay there. 

Paul charges us to give thanks in all circumstances because he knows the freedom that come from thanksgiving! 

There is always something to be thankful for. 

{Disclaimer: I had to get to a place mentally and spiritually to be able to say these things with faith and belief. If you are in a place where these things are difficult, please don't feel condemned. I write about these things to encourage you so that you know that you won't always be where you are, there is a hope that things will be different, that things can be different} 

{Day 14.0} Being More Intentional

Some of these things that I write about are things that I am still working on. Being intentional is definitely one of those areas. I am an introvert so I tend to spend a lot of time "in my own head". Ask my mom, she can vouch for this. When I was in my 'just surviving' days, I spent an embarrassing amount of time throwing myself pity parties. Another struggle of mine is being passive aggressive. So if I don't want to deal with something, I ignore it, i.e. filling that time with something else and usually less productive. So I was moving through my days just going through the motions, doing what I had to but without purpose or intention. 

I had to make changes. I had to get outside myself and stop being so selfish. I had to start focusing on others rather than myself. As a side note I would like to add that learning how to actually care for myself allowed me to then take care of others better. You know the whole put your oxygen mask on first then your child's. This is smart advice. 

I am learning more and more what being intentional looks like, in my own family and outside my family with friends, at church and at work. It can look different from day to day and from person to person. But what I do know for sure is that being more intentional involves purpose and focus. So I am trying to move through my days with purpose and intention, focusing on the things that matter. 

Thank you so much for following along this journey with me! I hope that you are encouraged to thrive!  

Love, 

~jimmie lee