Navigating Teenage RebellionSample

Day 11: Seeking the Praiseworthy

In 2013, I wrote Are You Enough?. It is the account of our family’s journey navigating teen rebellion. This book seeks to encourage the overwhelmed and exhausted heart. I found myself discouraged during those difficult years. Rock bottom was my new normal. Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are challenged me to begin searching for and writing down “the praiseworthy” in my life. This gratitude journal launched me on a transformative journey that has proved to be an amazing anti-depressant for my life.

The vulture looks for death and decay and the hummingbird looks for life and nectar. They both find what they seek. The enemy wants us to focus on the negative; the have-nots. But God’s Word tells us to be grateful and focus on “that which is praiseworthy”—on our blessings.

It makes me really mad that the enemy comes to “rob, kill, and destroy” my joy. But what makes me even madder is that I am the one who willingly gives it up. Satan is subtle, cunning, and sneaky. If he can get us to whine and complain about our circumstances, then he has taken our joy. Or rather—we have given it to him. How we respond and where we choose to focus is our choice.

As I yielded my tough circumstances to God, He helped me “give thanks in all things.” He opened my eyes to see the good around me. This was the oxygen that I needed for my weary soul. The practice of gratitude is a life-giving habit that now helps me better navigate trials. We must simply choose to reframe our circumstances to find the good.

Even in the midst of the rebellion around me, I asked God to open my eyes and show me His gifts. It was a daily treasure hunt. This habit has become a true game-changer in my life. Whenever depression or doubt rear their ugly heads, I grab my gratitude journal, open my heart and eyes, and record His abundant gifts to me.

Does your life feel burdened or heavy? Is depression looming? May gratitude change your heart and your thinking. For me, it was critical for a life of JOY.