Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It was a little too cold to sit outside on this magnificent front porch at sunrise, and I can’t wait for the time when it’s warm enough to be filled with love and laughter again. The front porch is my place of peace. It’s my solitude, and in so many ways, it’s my sanctuary because it’s there where the Lord speaks to me. No matter the season, all I have to do is look at the rockers lined up on the front porch, and my heart sings with gratitude and memories. When the Master lights up the world each day, I see everything around this old farm come to life…including me. Sometimes, it’s as if the birds sing what my Heart feels, and the entire Experience drives me into the arms of the One who died for me every single time. I set out to ask for Wisdom for my plans on this new day and to make a few Requests for my Life, but I ended up in a place of Praise and Gratitude instead. It’s amazing how a place of Gratitude can override every “burden” and fill the Heart with Joy no matter what’s going on or how big the Requests are. When it was all said and done, I was too overwhelmed with Gratitude to ask Him for a single thing this morning. Isn’t that the way it is for you when you focus on Gratitude too?

It would be impossible to list all the good things God has done since the Beginning of all time – David says, “Were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” His Righteousness cannot be measured, and His deeds can’t be counted, that’s for sure. If I were to sit on the front porch making a list of His Good Deeds for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t begin to make a dent in the list of His Goodness. Despite His neverending Good deeds, it can be so easy for most people to put Gratitude on the back burner while they race through the Journey called Life…forgetting to give thanks in the process. One little roadblock…one little “setback”…one little bit of “bad news” and Gratitude goes out the window while they beg for Him to fix those things they THINK are broken. Gratitude is the Key to Peace and Joy, and Gratitude is what propels us forward for Good, no matter how bad things appear to be on the surface – all because we are Confident that the One Who died for us is up to something Good if we’ll just allow Him to Work in our lives. This is the Key to Peace through it all.

I talk a lot about my Trials and Tribulations, all those things that I’ve endured so that my Heart could be Tenderized by the King and so that I could become a Stronger (and more usable) Vessel for the Living God. Today, I’m a Witness of Hope in a dark world and an Encourager to my brothers and sisters in Christ. ALL the trials have “worked together for Good” because I LOVE Him, and I’ve been “called according to His Purpose”, and I am able to recall each turbulent Season with Joy. When you get to the other side of trials and tribulations, Gratitude overflows, and it’s easy to shamelessly share the “bad” that it took to get there because the Victory is always so sweet! I have been Victorious when things appeared to be hopeless, more than most people could imagine. But if I were to be asked about my Blessings…all those things that I have to be Grateful for in this Journey called Life…” there would be too many to declare” too. If I were to sit on the front porch making a list of all the things I have to be Grateful for, the list wouldn’t end until I do. There can be no Peace without Heartfelt Gratitude for the Living God…for all that He is and all that He does for each one.

I set out with my own plans in mind today, but I ended up with a Heart that is feeling what the birds were singing this morning. I’m overflowing with Gratitude for yesterday, today, and forevermore, and I can’t think of anything at all except my Mighty, Merciful, Miraculous God who sent His Son to die for me. The One “who scattered the stars in the sky and knows them each by name” knows my Name too, and He has it written in the Book of Life. And because of that, I’ll have an Attitude of Gratitude all the days of my Life, and my Blessings and all the Victories will always be “too many to declare!”

How about you?