Overflowing...with Gratitude

"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. 

Let the whole world know what he has done." 

Psalm 105:1

Is giving thanks to the Lord a hard concept for you? Would you consider yourself "overflowing with gratitude?"

Our NICS member care theme this year is just that; Overflowing...with Gratitude. So I think about this a lot. My initial thought is "I am grateful to the Lord but would I consider my life as overflowing?"
To be overflowing sounds to me as if it should be natural and easy and constant. But my days are not always easy-or fun or calm or what I want-so I often have a hard time staying grateful in the present.

But...

I stopped to think about my week

• AU classmates gave their 8 month little baby to Jesus this week. They had very little warning in an otherwise normal journey through parenting. Now their baby is gone. Their testimony from this is indescribable though.
• Sweet friends all around me struggle with infertility, adoption struggles, and jealousy on the journey.
• A young student's mom is losing her battle with cancer.
• and so much more

These aren't fantastic things happening around me. They are all heartbreaking but all of them caused me to (sometimes literally) fall on my face to thank God for what he has blessed me with. I know I struggle with being grateful in every moment of my life, I've taken so much for granted, but God knows my heart and he gave me moments to give me perspective--perspective that is overflowing with gratitude.

And I'm interested to know, how do you react in hard times? Do you praise God for the storms or dwell on them? When you hear of heartbreak does it force you into gratitude?