Gratitude is my Attitude

Before I received eternal life, I felt something was missing in my life.

I had a good job and good friends. I enjoyed being with family as well as traveling and meeting new people. But I never felt really fulfilled or secure. I would often trouble myself with worry about the future and wallow in self pity over past mistreatment in my life or past mistakes I'd made. Also, I would often be full of envy feeling I wasn't as good as others or I didn't have as good a life as I believed life others had.

Although I grew up "religious" I had never read the Bible. I started attending a church where the gospel was preached every week. I also got invited to study the Bible with friends. For the first time in my life I understood what it meant to have eternal life with Christ; what it meant to be saved. I was so excited and couldn't wait to get baptized and get involved in ministry. I felt like my life had started over; that I was a new person. I finally felt at peace in my life, while also feeling fired up and anxious to share with everyone my new-found joy.

Now that I have eternal life I am much more able to face the ups and downs of life knowing that they are a part of the journey that God has planned for me to His glory. I don't wallow in self pity or feel like I wish I had a different life. I know God has his hand in every aspect of my life, and I can rest in that security.

Although I always feared I would never get married or ever be a mother, I realize now that God was preparing me to be the best wife and mother I could be. Not that I am perfect at either, but without God's grace and mercy in my life, which renewed me with an attitude of gratitude, I don't think I would have ever been able to handle either of these roles very well. I am so blessed and thankful for the God-fearing, loving family I have now.

I do my best to live my life to the fullest every day without worrying about tomorrow. Today has enough worries if its own. If tomorrow my life were to end, I know I would have no regrets, and I know the best would be yet to come in eternal life with Christ in heaven.