Cup of peppermint tea, or a cup of disapointment?

 Wow, hello! What a time it has been since I last wrote a blog. Obviously, consistency is not my strongest feature, what a surprise. 

Anywho, I'm here to ramble to you about thankfulness. I just made myself a cup of tea, and was sorely disappointed when I realised I had somehow used a peppermint tea bag instead of a chai. Genuine heartbreak-in-a-tea-cup. 

I have no idea who actually reads my blog, so for the sake of uncertainty, I'll begin with a bit of backstory. 

Just over a month ago I moved to the Hawkes Bay from Wellington. In all my twenty-three smalls years of life, I've only lived in the lower North Island. This was a good change, as I now live closer to the majority of my siblings and all their many childrens. I love being close to all my nieces and nephews! But my goodness, I always forget that I do not deal well with change. I only have two friends, and I left them in Wellington and I do not want to make new ones. What the heck even is making friends as an adult?! Uncomfortable and not for me, thank you, sir. 

Backstory over, this week I've been really concentrating on how often we are told in Scripture to be thankful. Psalms are filled with verses about giving thanks in everything, Paul teaches about going through trials with thankful hearts and joy. (Just a side note here, peppermint tea is YUCK). So, why do we allow ourselves to be such moody children when we're called to be thankful in everything? (I'm referring to myself here, I AM the moody child.) Phillipians 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God." I've heard this verse countless times, but y'know what people always overemphasise? Being anxious for nothing, and they almost completely miss the point about thankfulness. What actually helps with our anxiety as Christians? When we focus our hearts on Christ and we fill our minds with thankfulness for the grace and mercy we have received! Our anxiety and stress doesn't just go away once we've prayed for something, but it is relieved when we look to God and are filled with thanksgiving for the blessings we have received. 

So, my challenge to myself is to be thankful. To pray with thanksgiving, to change my attitude of complaining and comparing to focusing on answered prayers and all the many things in life that I have to be thankful for. 

"Worship is not an experience. Worship is an act, and this takes discipline. We are to worship, 'in Spirit and in truth.' Never mind about the feelings. We are to worship in spite of them." - Elisabeth Elliot.

We are to worship with thankfulness, and this too is a discipline. Our hearts are filled with grumbling and complaints. We are called to cultivate thankfulness and discipline ourselves to be thankful in spite of our feelings and emotions. 

Take it from me, this is all easier said than done. But if we don't say it, we probably won't do it either. We all start somewhere, and I start with rambling my thoughts here, there and everywhere.