Here's what you're missing about gratitude... that can change everything

Have you ever thought, "I know I should be more grateful," only to feel it become one more burden? Wendy Bower, author of Gratitude Attack, shares how gratitude isn't a list to write or a duty to perform. It's what happens when we notice God's reminders of His love. Wendy walks through seasons of family rejection and cancer treatment, and how God met her in them with purple irises and a smiling bougainvillea hedge. Anna and Wendy invite you to stop striving, slow down, and look for His surprises today.

• A gratitude attack is when gratitude comes upon you as a response to being seen by God, instead of something you manufacture with a list or journal.

• In deep suffering, gratitude can feel impossible. If you aren't feeling grateful today, you're in process, and you'll grow in gratitude without special techniques or striving.

• Don't distance yourself from God in pain. Pressing in, even with only "Lord, have mercy on me," is where Wendy first heard Him say, "I see you."

• Suffering strips away the mask. Performance Christianity transforms nothing, because knowledge alone doesn't change us unless we receive truth in the places that need it.

• God can handle your emotions. Suppressing them disconnects us from Him. Like David in the Psalms, bring Him everything, and the transformation comes through His love.

• Abiding is 24/7. The work is simply belonging to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all day, not checking in morning and evening.

• Notice His reminders of love. Start the day asking, "Where will I see You today?" Look for favorite colors, flowers, songs, and old memories.

• Embrace quiet and listening. Don't control the conversation with God. His silence isn't always a sign you're doing something wrong, and often He is saying, "I love you, my plans for you are good, trust me."

• "Asking for a fish, He wants to give you the lake." His timing and His vision are bigger than our requests.

• Don't take yourself too seriously. Take God's love most seriously, and say yes to joy and play like the first rule of improv.

• Gratitude Attack by Wendy Bower, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and more - https://a.co/d/03GF8qQw

• The Colorful Christmas Kerfuffle by Wendy Bower, a children's book. One bold elf decides red and green are too boring, and a colorful Christmas experiment turns into a heart-warming story about the glorious gift of forgiveness. - https://a.co/d/0dhKal0a

• Website: https://www.authorwendybower.com/

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MUSIC CREDITS Theme music:

Brave New World ASLC-1BEF9A9E-9E9D609662 – Artist: Fantoms Inspiring Hopeful – Audio source: Jamendo – Artist: Aliaksei Yukhnevich ASLC-2B505EF3-E9CD4817A6