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a happy heart

I wrote the majority of this post a few weeks back but never got around to finishing it.  I stumbled upon it this morning in my collection of drafts and decided to finish it and publish today because I couldn't think of a good reason not to.
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Yesterday was Thursday and though I had long abandoned consistent Thankful Thursday Postage, I kept seeing the theme come up.  First, hearing my boss just stop and pray to thank God that even though a certain situation wasn't going how she wanted it, he was in charge over it.  Then to meeting a lady for coffee and talking about how we are both so thankful for how our relationships came about and still are so natural and comfortable for us.  Then to my boyfriend's little sister watching a veggie tales movie about thankfulness.  It's just been all over the place, and it begs the question of why.  Why is it so important that we be thankful that it's listed numerous times in the Bible?  I think because thankfulness allows us the opportunity to be happy.  Joy should be a deep-residing thing in a person's heart, but happiness isn't so much of a standby. 
I can attest to it personally because I've been happier this morning than I have been all week.  There's something about thankfulness that comes in two parts: the choice to be thankful and then the consequence of the choice to, regardless of what's going on, find something to be thankful for.  It's not magic, but it is pretty amazing and miracle-esque that when we chose to believe that no matter what we see in front of us, God is so good that there is still something to be thankful for, it can give our hearts even just a sliver of opportunity to be happy.  If only for a minute.  And then the next minute, we get to find something to be thankful for again, until hopefully it gets a little easier, even if circumstances don't.

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