Only 10 more days! Can you believe it?

In the busyness of Christmas I want to pause and gift God a gift. It will be wrapped, but not in tinsel.

Instead, it will be wrapped in the words that come from my lips.

If you came over from Encouragement for Today, welcome! I promised to share a few gratitude conversation starters.

We will have countless opportunities to begin our conversation with words like this:

If only he didn’t. . .

Why can’t they. . .

I’m so. . . [fill in the blank with a negative].

But what might happen if we see our words as gifts for the next week?

Recently my husband (a counselor) said something that absolutely captured my attention. He said, “Our automatic thoughts lead to actions.”

Read that one more time.

Our automatic thoughts lead to actions.

What pops in our head is what leads us to act. It can lead us to negatively impact our loved ones. It can lead to a funk. It can lead to fighting or discord when our heart only wants peace.

If our words become gifts, then how does that change the way we think, and therefore act?

Gratitude conversation starters might look like this:

You are so [fill in the blank with a sincere compliment] and I’m grateful for you.

I am [fill in the blank with a positive word that reflects what you have, rather than what you don’t have]. . . blessed, healthy, whole, warm, fed, surrounded by family. None of us will have all of these things, but we all have some of them.

Thank you God for. . .

God, how can I bless others with what you’ve given me? (A note of encouragement, a gift, a donation, a prayer, a hug, a word that lifts up.)

I plan to create a gratitude tradition in my home this year. One by one pulling a slip of paper from a small gift-wrapped box as I lift up my gift of words to Him.

What about you?

Share one gratitude starter that you plan to use today.