A Sacrifice of Praise... Overtime!

    Have you ever noticed how many times we are instructed to praise in God's word? I mean really, why would God not just expect us to praise Him when we feel grateful and let us off the hook when life gets rough? I'm beginning to realize (yes, again... how many times must I learn the same lesson!?) that sometimes, giving praise because of the trial in my life brings a greater blessing. 

    Lately, I've had no trouble finding things to praise God for... a relaxing afternoon hosting a beloved missionary family, a peaceful evening playing board games with my kiddos, my husband's renewed health to return to work after an extended illness... the blessings have been flowing heavily around here! 

    So why, tonight, did I find myself grasping at straws to write in my gratitude journal? It wasn't that rough of a day. Pretty relaxing, really. My girls and I read aloud together, I made some yummy home-cooked meals, nothing broke down, and there wasn't even any teenager conflict like sometimes rears its ugly head! I'm blessed! So why couldn't I think of something to put into words?
  
    Because God wanted more from me today. He wanted a sacrifice of praise today. He wasn't going to let me off the hook with the typical blessings today. It was time for me to dig deeper into my soul and obey His order to give thanks in everything! So, here goes...

    Disclaimer: If you're a military spouse, or someone whose spouse truly works long hours, you have my respect! But for me, anything longer than an eight-hour shift sets me to counting the minutes for my husband's return. Today, my challenge was to thank God for overtime. It hasn't been too long since I was worried about whether my husband would ever be well enough to return to work full-time. God has restored his health completely! And just a few weeks before that, we were going over the budget with a fine-tooth comb, trying to figure out how to keep loose ends together until "overtime season" returned. So I'm grateful today. On this, a beautiful Saturday that passed peacefully without incident, I'm grateful that my husband spent nearly twelve hours at work. I'm grateful that he missed out on going to a mystery shop for dinner with me and four of the kids. I'm grateful that we had to play our nightly round of skip-bo without his competitive hand or his wry humor. I'm grateful that I snuggled down into a cold bed, shivering until my heating blanket warmed up, while he was finishing his last flight at work. And I'm especially grateful that my husband is a hard-worker who doesn't complain about the longer days!

    I'm not saying "thank you" because I feel like it, but because it is the right thing to do. Again, I know many of you suffer far worse than this, especially if your husband works out of town or out of the country. You have my undying respect and gratitude. But for me, this is what God asked of me today, to sacrifice by thanking Him for my husband's work schedule. 

    What are you grateful for today? Let me know in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from you!