Living with Prayerful Gratitude

We should never underestimate the power of prayerful gratitude.

Recently, my hubby and I, let our dogs out to run in their new home. They are used to being in a fenced in yard in a suburb, but now they have many acres in the country. Naturally, they love the freedom. It’s truly a delight to watch them run and usually, they come right back when we call. A few weeks ago, they didn’t.

We were in the middle of a serious renovation project, trying to get it completed by the time my new job started and they went missing. We stopped working and started looking for them and calling. We called and called and at some point, we split up. He went one way and I went the other.

Finally, they came running from where I was calling and I yelled to my husband that I found them.

We went back to work.

Last weekend, we were having our morning coffee and talking about our stress in this current season. We reminded each other that we know that God is with us because of all of the prayer involved in our plans and the affirmations He has continuously sent along the way.

My hubby asked me if I remembered the day when our dogs went missing. Of course I remembered.

He went on to tell me a part of the story that I didn’t know.

He said he went up towards the road to look for our pups fearful that they might have been hit by a car. He ended up in the small orchard of fruit trees that we planted in the fall. He said he stopped to look at them and was amazed at how green and healthy they all were. We planted eight and all were flourishing beyond anything we could have imagined. He said he stopped calling the dogs and said a prayer of thanks.

He said he told God that those thriving fruit trees could have only come from His blessing and humbly admitted that there was nothing in his own power that could have made them thrive the way they have and he thanked Him for providing. He then confessed that he had a lot of work to do and asked God to help us find our dogs.

He said almost immediately, I yelled that I had found them.

As he shared a previously unknown part of the story, my eyes filled with tears. I was reminded that God is always listening even when we don’t think He is. I was reminded of the power of a praying spouse, or friend or any brother or sister in Christ. I was reminded of the power of giving thanks maybe not for all circumstances, but in all circumstances. There is always something to be thankful for.

Our morning discussion gave me the encouragement I needed and reminded me of the power and peace that come from prayerful gratitude. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂