I quietly walked up the stairs and peeked inside my friend’s bedroom. The lights were dimmed and she was asleep. I tip-toed over to her bed and whispered, “surprise” as I held up her favorite Starbucks drink in my hand.

She smiled up at me and then slowly sat up. From the outside, she looked as sweet, beautiful, and joyful as I always remembered, but on the inside she is in terrible pain. The doctors have exhausted their level of knowledge and have told her multiple times that “we don’t know what else to do.” 

Despite the doctors’ words of hopelessness and lack of answers, my friend, Grace, has been able to choose thankfulness, joy, and gratitude in the midst of her circumstances.

Instead of wallowing in sorrow and counting the hardships and trials in her life, she’s kept her eyes on Jesus and has decided to trust in Him and thank Him for every single day that He allows her to live.

She’s turned one of my favorite quotes into a reality: 

“I have learned that in every circumstance that comes my way, I can choose to respond in one of two ways: I can whine or I can worship! And I can’t worship without giving thanks. It just isn’t possible. When we choose the pathway of worship and giving thanks, especially in the midst of difficult circumstances, there is a fragrance, a radiance, that issues forth out of our lives to bless the Lord and others.”  -Nancy Leigh DeMoss

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I want to challenge each one of you to make this quote your goal. I want you to make this quote a reality in your life despite your current circumstances.

Each one of us only has two options this Thanksgiving, we can whine about the things that frustrate, annoy, bother and confuse us, or we can worship God for all He is doing and has done in our lives. You only have those two options, whining or worshiping.

That quote made an incredible impact in my life about three years ago. A week before Thanksgiving I went through a really hard relationship breakup.

I felt like doing anything but giving thanks that year. 

I wanted to cry, feel sorry for myself, spoil everyone else’s fun and not be joyful. I didn’t feel like giving thanks that year.

I’m so grateful that God caught my attention during that time through a book called Choosing Gratitude. As I read through that book by, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, I was convicted over and over and over again.

When I read that quote from above, I realized that I truly only had two options in the midst of my difficult circumstance.

I could whine or I could worship, but I couldn’t do both at the same time. It just wasn’t possible.

I had to make some choices and I knew what those needed to be. I needed to stop whining about my circumstances and start worshiping God for who He is and for what He’s done/doing in my life.

I needed to obey the verse that says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). 

Although it took time, I eventually came to the point where I could worship God and give thanks to Him “in all circumstances.”  In those moments when I decided to worship instead of whine, my life was transformed. I went from a self-focused, sad, unhappy girl, to a joyful, grateful, fun girl to be around.

You can read the specifics about that relationship and what God taught me in my blog Letting Go of the Guy.

Free Book Giveaway 

Because that book has had such a huge impact in my life, I want to give away a FREE COPY to one of you! Here’s the scoop. In order to enter your name for the book giveaway, you need to comment below sharing five reasons why you are thankful. They don’t need to be life altering reasons for thankfulness, just anything that comes to mind.

I’ll give you an example.

Five reasons I am thankful: 

1. I am thankful that I have been saved by Jesus and get to spend eternity with Him.
2. I am thankful for the Girl Defined blog and the opportunity to be apart of it.
3. I am thankful for my dad’s business and that I get to work in his office.
4. I am thankful for my car even though it doesn’t always start.
5. I am thankful for my entire family and my new niece or nephew that is coming soon.

What are you thankful for? 

It’s your turn now. Scroll down to the bottom and give me a list of 5 reasons why you are thankful. When you enter your list in the comments section, your name will automatically be entered into our book giveaway. We will announce the winner on Monday, December 1st. We want to give everyone plenty of time to worship God.

If my friend Grace can choose to worship God from her bed this Thanksgiving, I think you and I can do the same. Let’s follow her example by choosing to worship God despite our circumstances. Let’s make this Thanksgiving one focused on the greatness of God and not all about us.

Get Started! 

Go ahead and get the thankfulness ball rolling by sharing five reason you are thankful. Leave your comments bellow.

 Photo credit: www.flickr.com | orangeacid