Count Your Blessings: Create a Gratitude Journal or Scrapbook

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Develop an Attitude of Gratitude – Ideas for Giving Thanks

There is nothing like Thanksgiving that forces even the busiest person to slow down and give thanks! Of course, we should always be thankful EVERY day. However, despite my best intentions to not fall asleep at night before remembering to thank God for my daily blessings, sometimes I fall asleep right in the middle of my prayer! Can anyone relate?

The Bible calls us to give THANKS and to show gratitude in so many passages! I love these verses from I Thessalonians which makes this very clear:

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

I thought that I could use these verses, this week of Thanksgiving, to suggest an exercise in your scrapbooks or journals to inspire you to do just that!

I had the pleasure of attending one of Sharon Thomas’ Pilates classes at Club Pilates in Newport News which was a specialty class on being thankful. Sharon is clearly a Christian and shared in the class that there was a time in her life where she struggled and felt like things were just always going wrong. It sounded to me as if she was in a real low point where despair had taken over. She shared that she was struggling to be thankful for ANYTHING only to be reminded by one of her favorite songs, “Ten Thousand Reasons,” that she INDEED DID HAVE THINGS to be thankful for and she challenged herself to WRITE THEM DOWN.

Over the next two years, Sharon faithfully filled a journal daily with reasons she was thankful and eventually hit 10,000! To go from not having ONE thing to be thankful for to 10,000 is quite a leap but she did it, and what happened? Her life turned around. I love that Sharon’s obedience to what God has called us to do made such an impact on her but also that she was willing to share her feelings in class! Now, here I am, sharing the same thoughts with hundreds of YOU. What a ripple effect, right?

Here are some thoughts I had to help those of you that are interested in developing an even stronger attitude of gratitude in your life!

Tips for Practicing Gratitude

This rock on my nightstand is a prompt to remind me to be grateful each day.

1. Put a rock on your night stand (or something else that doesn’t belong)

My rock is clearly out of place and so my eyes are naturally drawn to it each time I get in bed. It is my reminder to say my prayers of thanksgiving every day. It also is a great way to end the day and calm down especially on those days that are really busy and/or stressful.

Lined paper that you can cut into squares ahead of time OR you can write on it and then trim to size!

2. Journal Boxes

For Thanksgiving, why not cut up some journal boxes (I love the lined paper that we have) or use some of the pretty ones, like in the It’s Fall Ya’ll Variety Mat Pack. Hand each guest at your Thanksgiving celebration a card and ask them to please write down as many things they can think of to fill that space that make them grateful! Make sure they put their name on it. Then, you can make a special double-page spread in your scrapbook that will not only capture all the blessings in your family but also will be a memory of who all attended that day. Do it EVERY year to watch how these cards change from year to year. One of my clients shared that she likes to trace the hands of all of her little grandchildren that attend and help them to write on each finger what they are grateful for. I LOVE that idea, though I have no grandchildren yet.

Happy Albums make you happy! They are the perfect size for a journal like this!

3. Start a gratitude album!

I love the Happy Album Collection for this. I LOVE the new yellow one! An album in this size and a set of pages is only $39 and you will love writing in it because, well, it’s BEAUTIFUL and cheerful and so well made.

You will love how it feels in your hands. Put it in a prominent place so you will remember to write, write, write as often as you can.

I challenge YOU to set a goal of reaching 10,000 reasons that YOU are grateful.

My planner from last year. I love it so much!

4. Get a Planner

Here’s another album idea. For those of you who love planners, we have an awesome one. Currently, the Happy Album Planner Bundle is only $67.50 and it typically is over $100, so this is an amazing value.

I recommend getting this bundle plus an extra set of pages for $19.50. First, why OUR planner? I love it because it is the PERFECT size but DURABLE. No more pages falling out midyear from the spiral or loose-leaf binder. This one will really hold up. The album cover itself is so well made, as our albums always are, and hence, it is the perfect thing to keep track of your daily activities. It also comes with a zipper cover that you can put your planner in if it’s raining outside and you need to take it with you or if you are traveling and want to keep it safer. In addition, you can start your planner whenever you want! So many times, I have shopped for a new planner because my pages were falling out and looked ratty only to find that I either had to get one that started in January or one that started in August! Not helpful if I am shopping in March or October! Our books are totally customizable to start WHEN you want. They come with a pen and tape runner, too. What I like about that is, if you get the extra set of pages I mentioned, you can do a double-page spread EVERY MONTH with photos of things that remind you what you are grateful for! Or, you can simply use the extra pages to remind you to journal throughout the month. Oh, and the new planner color for 2022 is AMAZING!

5. Try this page layout idea!

Last, let’s end with a super simple one. Watch my demo above about how to do the beautiful double-page spread below with the Dine Border Punch using the Keep the Faith line. Even if you don’t plan to do this idea, you will still learn a super cool technique that can work with many of your border punches and even your border maker cartridges. Bon Appetite 😉

I used the dine punch and the new circle maker to do this beautiful double-page spread. Note: if you love wine, you can also do this same concept with the wine border maker cartridge!

Thanks so much for spending time reading my blog today. I cannot end this message without sharing how grateful I am to YOU. I am truly blessed beyond belief. More blessed than I deserve. Thank you for making me feel special by continuing to follow me despite so many imperfections!

May you have an amazing Thanksgiving with family or friends or both! If traveling, may your journey be safe! Oh, and eat an extra dessert for ME.

Blessings to you!

Beckie Belote

PS: See more ideas using this technique below!

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