Thankfulness

I just recently watched a movie with my cousin, Julia, which was actually quite touching for me.  It was named "The 50 First Dates," in it, a man named Henry, (portrayed by Adam Sandler), meets a girl, who he thinks could be the girl of his dreams, Lucy, (played by Drew Barrymoore), but, there's a problem, Lucy was in a car accident on her father's birthday the year prior.  The car accident brought brain damage to her and now, every morning when she wakes up, she still thinks it's her father's birthday, and she cannot remember anything from the day before and she keeps on reliving the day of her accident.  Even with her current conditions, Henry keeps on making her fall in love with him, day after day, even though she never remembers him.
My cousin, after finishing the movie, mentioned something that made me think that I would like to discuss here.  She said something like "It makes you grateful for what you have, doesn't it?"  She's right.  I am thankful for what I have but I tend to take for granted all of my many many blessings!  I have a good brain, wonderful parents, food to eat, a nice home, and so much more, but most of all, I have Jesus who loves me so much!  Why would I take all of these things for granted?!  I think of all of the girls my age in this world who would love to have my life, and it makes me feel bad that I would ever not give thanks to God for everything He's given me, and, everytime I complain about things.
In Philipians 2:14(NIV), The Bible says, "Do everything without grumbling or arguing,..."  I think about this verse and it brings me guilt, because I think about all of the times I've complained about things in my life, there's so many!  I think everybody complains at least a little bit sometimes, but I think there are others(including myself), who do it more than sometimes.  It's a hard habit to break, but we should strive to break it because The Bible states that we should do everything without complaining.
This brings me back to more of the thankfulness topic.  Think of how wonderful it would be if instead of filling our minds with negative, complaining thoughts, we filled them with positive, happy, thankful thoughts?!  In Ephesians 5:18-20(NIV), it says, "...Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.  Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."   These verses do not say "Gives thanks to God for some things, sometimes."  Rather, it says to give thanks always for everything.  I am very guilty of not giving thanks in the way that those verses say, and it would be nice to change that.
So, I challenge you; try to go for a whole entire day without complaining, and give thanks to God more than you usually do on a daily basis, and then once you've succeeded in that, make it a habit!!:)  I think that habit would make everyone's lives much better!
Therefore, let's all try to be grateful for God's blessings, especially the most special one of all, His Son!!
I hope you enjoyed this post!  Have a great day!:)
~A~