So you’re probably thinking what the heck does gratitudifulness mean, because it is definitely not in the English dictionary. Well, its a little word I made up just a little bit ago in Guatemala. Every Monday-Friday, our teams have something called team time. Every day of the week there is a new team time, the schedule sort of looks like this:

Monday: bible study

Tuesday: gratitude 

Wednesday: fun day

Thursday: feedback 

Friday: debrief

Each of these team times last about an hour everyday after dinner. Team time is most of the time expected to be absolutely dreadful, but team jubilee and I have been through thick and thin these past 4 months, to the point where now, we (in Sadies words) follow each other around like little ants :) . My team and I are best friends. Long story short, when you join the race, every team has a team leader. Team jubilee was blessed with a wonderful gal, Layna Jean Tolton. The team leaders are world race alumni, and their job is to come in and show us the ropes of team times and more. The thing is, they are only with us for 2 months. So, we have a raised up team leader. Before staff choses the new team leaders that are current racers, they have everyone lead 1 team time. so way back then when this process was happening, I was gifted in leading Tuesday night- gratitude. 

To be completely honest, before the race, I was very prideful, especially about my relationship with the Lord. I just kind of always put myself on a pedestal because I was “a real christian” and everyone else just called themselves one. I was so focused on how much attention being with the Lord could get me instead of using the authority the Lord gave me to glorify Him. So before the race, I never really practiced gratitude or thankfulness. If we are being super real, I probably did not even know what gratitude meant, other than that it was one of those super basic, overused Christian words in church. Coming on the race, we talk a lot about how we are going to steward everything better than before when we get home because now, without all of the comforts from home, we are thankful for them. But gratitude, it’s different than just saying you’re thankful for something. It’s like sitting in the act of thankfulness. I guess before the race I just never understood what living in gratitude looked like. 

Im realizing, especially now since being in Africa, that gratitude is a lifestyle (aka gratitudifulness). We get to receive all of what the Lord is doing and what He has and just say yes. It’s all in the little things, mostly keeping your eyes on Him. When your eyes transfixed on Jesus face, you see more of Him in your day. Seeing the Lord throughout the day, what a praise! We get to see the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords in the everyday, mundane things. We get new perspective and fresh incense due to the fact that everything is from the Lord. We get to give Him our eyes and ears and head during the day. We get to partner with Him not only in ministry, but in every thought and action. Everything is from the Lord. Absolutely everything. And the fact that everything we have comes from the King of Heaven, that should be something we should be grateful for. 

So gratitudifulness is a the lifestyle of gratitude/sitting in thankfulness. The Lord has been stopping me in my tracks daily just to sit in awe of all that He is doing and all that He has gifted me. Its so cool to be reminded of too. Tuesday nights have now been renamed gratitudiful Tuesdays, and we just sit and talk about praises from the past week, and how the Lord has been moving in our hearts, in those at home, and all around the world. BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS FROM HIM, & HE IS GOOD! Sitting in this thankfulness has honestly allowed me a lot of joy- joy for everything, everybody, everyday. Just being humble enough to recognize that the Lord is good enough to give me things I am beyond undeserving of. Joy that I get to do a lot of things that are challenging and . Joy that I get to read the Bible because it is a gift. Joy that I get to live in a community of 42 people sharing 2 bathrooms. Joy that I get to partner with Him in ministry when He doesn’t even need me, and joy that He equips me with what I need to partner with Him in ministry. 

LONG STORY SHORT, I hope this was a new perspective for you. I know a lot of adults read my blogs who have probably been stuck in the same jobs, same relationships, same house and all for a while, and it might start to feel a bit normal and mundane. Give your days to the Lord. Let Him stop you in your tracks. Admire all that you get to have. Sit in awe of the Father and all He has done. 3 words that the Lord gave me this past summer during world race boot camp were grasp, adore, and victory, and I am finally experiencing this. If you grasp the Lord and sit in adoration of Him and all He has done, you will be able to live in victory because you have experienced the freedom that a life with the Lord offers. BE THANKFUL TODAY. STOP AND SAY THANKS TO YOUR FATHER. RECOGNIZE that it is all truly from Him. Without Him, I would not be living in South Africa as a teenage missionary with a bunch of teenage friends 2 miles off of a beach in a 3story log cabin getting to hug kids everyday because that is actually my job. Its all from Him. Thanks God.