There are so many ways to take an attitude of gratitude and create stuff with it.
There is the break it down by word and focus on one or both attitude or gratitude. (or for a real challenge the of).
There is the chain reaction method. Being grateful for cotton growers for picking the cotton to be turned into denim to be turned into the jeans I am wearing at this moment.
Finally there is always the option of going off in a totally different direction.
I have seen all three this summer in the messages of the camp pastors this summer as they focused on n of gratitude.
However there was one aspect that occurred just one week all summer, the yelling of an attitude check. Once launched all those within listening distance were to shout Praise the Lord! The goal was for us to be in an attitude of constant praise all week-long. It worked and has had lasting effects long after that camp was over.
Before camp started I had read through the book of Job. For those who don’t know the story, Job was a very wealthy man and also extremely Godly. In a matter of an hour he is informed that he has lost everything. His crops, his servants, his animals, even his own children.Everything. Then in another day his health went as well. Through everything that happened Job 1:20-21 states this
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.[c]
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
I’m sure that not many of us could do this if we were put in Job’s shoes. Before this summer I am not sure if I could handle a situation in this way. By the end of the week these two words Attitude Check changed the way that I look at hardship. Focusing on the good and Praising God gives Satan less of a foothold to keep us in that negative mood.I began to notice just how different my attitude became.
From that week on I made myself a reminder on the paper duck that I had placed on the bottom of the bunk above me to serve as a constant reminder ot Praise the Lord in all situations. It has truly been a help.
A Path of Living Stones 