Thirsty for Thankfulness: Introduction

Thirsty for Thankfulness:
30 Days of Counting Blessings

We all can recognize the physical signs of being thirsty. When we have that dry feeling in our mouths, we know, we just know, that our bodies need to replenish our water supply by drinking liquids. If we don't do this, we may soon be suffering other consequences, such as feeling lightheaded. A lack of liquids can affect us mentally, with us feeling confused or a little "foggy," and emotionally, with us feeling either anxious or a more than a little "cranky." 

While we have these recognizable issues when we are physically thirsty, are we able to recognize any symptoms of being spiritually thirsty? 

I have experienced a thirsty spirit. The Holy Spirit within me has been quenched by my lack of attention to my Maker. 

Symptoms? Much like a thirsty body, my thirsty spirit was mentally confused and unfocused, and emotionally irritable and cranky. 

What can we do about this thirst in our spirits? Over the next 30 days, we are going to attempt to satisfy the thirst in our spirit by satisfying the Holy Spirit with something relatively simple: Thankfulness. 

Just as our physical thirst can be satisfied by something readily available and yet often undervalued in our society, water; our spiritual thirst can be satisfied by something that has been lacking and undervalued in our current society, gratitude. 

Is gratitude really the answer? 

Please consider times when we went out of our way to bless someone with a kindness--and then that kindness went unrecognized. Recall the feeling of excitement and expectation we felt as we thought about how this kindess would be received? --The thought alone brought warm feelings to our hearts and smiles to our faces.--

No acknowledgement.--None. 

The smiles fade--the feelings shift. 

Confusion. Disappointment. Sadness. 

This is the point of our Thirst for Thankfulness. 

What a difference the acknowledgement of kindness and the two words "Thank you" can make in the parched landscape of our world. 

So, over the next 30 days we are going to purposefully acknowledge our Maker. 

We will be looking at Scripture to rejoice and be glad in the work of our Creator. 

We don't want God's countless blessings in our lives to go unnoticed and unacknowledged. 

Each day we will enjoy a satisfying dose of Scripture to help nurture  and hydrate our souls. We are not striving for social media posts in order to declare #blessed, but rather we are striving to deepen our personal relationships with God, our Creator.

When we are in the midst of the "dog days" of summer, our lawns show us when we need to put the sprinkler in an area in order to avoid a dry, parched patch that withers in the heat of the mid-day sun. Let's hydrate our spirit with Scripture, so we don't suffer the consequence of a dry, parched spirit within ourselves.