Finding Gratitude In Every Season

Holiday rush, heavy schedules, and heart-weary weeks can make gratitude feel out of reach. We open the door to a calmer, deeper way by treating gratitude not as a feeling we chase but as a daily posture shaped by Scripture and practiced in the real moments of life.

If your faith feels stretched, you’ll find simple steps you can try today, on a commute, during a lunch break, or as you're going through your everyday routines. We talk about capturing answered prayers on paper, using Philippians 4:6–7 as a battle plan for anxious moments, and choosing trust when it feels hard to. By the end, you’ll have a gentle but sturdy framework for gratitude that works in joy, in grief, and in the in-between.

If this encouraged you, share it with a friend who needs a breath of hope, subscribe for more faith-filled conversations, and leave a review to help others find the show. Tell us: where did you see God today?

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Transcript

Welcome And Theme Of Gratitude

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Table of Grace podcast, where every woman has a seat, every story matters, and Jesus is always at the center. We're here to create space for real conversations and faith-filled stories that help you grow in your walk with Jesus. So grab your favorite cup of coffee and pull up a chair, because at his table, there's always a seat for you.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Welcome back to this week's episode of The Table of Grace. I am Tessa Lupke, and today we are going to be talking about gratitude. We are in the season of Thanksgiving and the holidays, and I feel like gratitude is always such a great topic to bring up while we're about to just be in the midst of chaos and all the traveling and family gatherings. And I just always love specifically and personally reflecting on what I'm grateful for in this

Gratitude As Discipline Not Feeling

SPEAKER_01 1:02

season. And I think it's always good to just slow down, take a deep breath, and even write down some things that we're grateful for and reflect on all the things that God has done within this year, within the season that we're in, whether it's a really hard season or a really good season, or maybe just this like in-between season where we're in the middle of what God has said he's gonna do, but has not yet done it. And I do think there is so much that we can be grateful for in the midst of whatever season that we are in. I think too, it's so important to remember that gratitude really isn't a feeling, but biblically, gratitude is actually a discipline and a posture that we can take on as Jesus followers. And really, it's not even pretending that everything's fine. It's not this toxic positivity, and it's not comparing each other's blessings. It's choosing to remember who God is, even when life doesn't look the way we hoped, or maybe it just doesn't feel the way we thought it was gonna feel. God is still good, and we can be so grateful for not only the blessings that He's given us specifically in our own unique stories and in our lives, but also just the blessing of Jesus and the gospel and salvation.

Praying The Psalms For Perspective

SPEAKER_01 2:17

I've actually recently been spending some time in Psalms recently. Um, I've just been so inspired um to read and pray through the Psalms. Um, and it's just been really such a blessing in my life. I definitely challenge you. If you haven't been in the Psalms in a minute, flip to the middle of your Bible and just read some, read some of the Psalms. They are really just such great chapters and scripture of gratitude and grief and joy and sorrow, and it just really encompasses the human emotion, but also how great God is, um, and who God is and his character. And really, a psalm that reminds me so much of gratitude and being grateful is Psalms 103. And I've actually been in been reading in that this week, and it's just it's so good.

Psalm 103 And Remembering God’s Benefits

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Um, the first part of it is David writing, and he says, Praise the Lord my soul at all my inmost being, praise his holy name, praise the Lord my soul, and forget not his all of his benefits, who forgives all of your sins and heals all of your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all of the oppressed. There's so much within this, but I think it's so good to not only read these, but remind ourselves, like don't forget all that God has done. Don't forget all that he's done in your life currently and up to this point, all that he will do and all that he is doing currently, past, present, and future. He is so good. And he is I it's just so cool to even look back at my own life and see how God has been so faithful.

Hope In Hard Seasons And Psalm 27

SPEAKER_01 4:09

And sometimes it's really hard to be grateful when you're in the midst of hard things and working through things that you just you really don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. There feels like there's no end to it. I just want to encourage you that God is still walking with you, and even in the hard things, there are ways that we can be grateful, even for how even if we're just grateful for God, period, and grateful for another day and another breath. Another great psalm that I really just love, and it really just shows how to have gratitude in whatever season that you're in, is Psalms 27-13. And it says, I remain confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That is such a good word and such a good reminder. Gratitude in your season can look like noticing how God sustains you, remembering past faithfulness, naming the small things He's doing, practicing hope, even when you can't see the full story

Journaling Gratitude And Answered Prayers

SPEAKER_01 5:13

yet. One of my favorite things that I love to do is journal. And if you don't journal, and maybe you feel like you're not a writer and you don't even have the time to sit down and journal, I really do challenge you to do this discipline. It is so, so powerful. I love to even write down prayers. Um, and one of the things I've really loved about journaling is being able to look back and to see these prayers that I've written that God has answered, even like years ago. Um, I have journals from really from high school through college, and I still write in a journal to this day. Um, and it's just so encouraging. Even within the year, I love to look back at the journal I've been writing in within the year and just see God's faithfulness in so many different ways. Even prayers that I even forgot that I've prayed. I don't know about you guys, but I'm so thankful that God does not forget the prayers that we've forgotten that we've prayed. Um, and he still even answers the ones that we've forgotten about because he's just so good like that. Um I am just so thankful for that. So, yes, that's a great way to just sit down and write out just things that you're grateful for God for, and just they can be simple, they can be big things, they can be specific things, they can be general things. Um, I really don't think there's a rule book to how you can even practice that gratitude. Sometimes gratitude simply sounds like God, I don't see what you're doing here, but I'm gonna trust that you're doing something. I'm gonna trust that you're still here, that you're still present, that you're still moving, that you're still doing a good work. And I I heard this somewhere, I can't remember if it was on a podcast or a book, but um it it was that if God had a love language, it would be obedience and trust. And I think that's so true because when you see even how God relates to his

Three Daily Habits For Gratitude

SPEAKER_01 7:06

people throughout scripture, he wants his people to trust him and obey him. And it's the same with us, he just wants us to trust him and trust that he is doing a good work and that he is doing good for the ones who love him and to just be able to trust him no matter what we're going through. And if you've been listening to this season of the podcast, you know that I am very practical. I love steps, I love things that you can implement in your daily lives, I love habits. So I'm gonna share a few different daily habits on how you can be grateful every single day, and even some simple rhythms that you can do and apply to your life. Number one is just finding gratitude in his presence. So asking yourself each day, either on the way to work, or I think this would actually be better at the end of the day, maybe even having a reminder set on your phone, where did I see God today? And reflecting on where God was present in your day. Where where did he show up? Where was where maybe there's a conversation you have with the coworker that was very inspirational, or you had it, you got to speak to them about the gospel. Where did where did God show up? Maybe there was someone that paid for your coffee through the drive-thru line, and it was such a blessing. Um, I think it's so good to practice gratitude. We can also just get in these habits of just negativity and allowing the world to weigh in on us because we do have so many things going on. We you've got you're stuck in the car line, or you're trying to hustle and pick up kids, you're trying to finish hit deadlines at work before the end of the year, or you're just literally surviving and trying to juggle all the things. I I literally am there with you guys. So being able to just stop and be still and reflect, even if it's just for five minutes, just sit and meditate on what God has done and just what he's done in your day that you can be grateful

Speak Gratitude And Philippians 4

SPEAKER_01 9:08

for. Um, a scripture that I love in relation to this is Psalm 1611. It says, in your presence there is fullness of joy. And that's so true. When we just sit in God's presence, that's where we can actually find fullness of joy. The next step is to speak it out loud. And this can look like a variety of different ways. Whether you're getting ready in the morning and you just need to pray a prayer of gratitude or even just brag on God. Like, I sometimes love to call my friend and just share about something cool that God's done that day. Like, you won't believe what God did, or like you won't believe like this cool God moment that I had. And say it in a prayer. Say it to a friend, say it to your kids, say it to your spouse, reflect and share that gratitude. Because when we when we share that, it also encourages others. And it honestly just pushes away the spirit of negativity. Um, because really, let's be honest, we don't have time for that. We have too much going on. The last thing we need is just negative words, negative thoughts, negative, negative conversations. So this is actually a great way to spread encouragement and gratitude and positivity. And one of my favorite scriptures in relation to this is Philippians 4, 6 through 7. And it says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. I really think if Thanksgiving had a Bible verse, it would be Philippians 4, 6 through 7, because we should honestly model this all day, every day in our lives, but it's such a great one to remember and to really just hide in your heart. Um, I

Create Margin To Notice God

SPEAKER_01 10:59

I love this verse so much. Philippians 4 is just overall such a great chapter in scripture. And lastly, step number three is to take a moment, whether that's daily or even weekly, I love doing this as a Sabbath or within my Sabbath, but slowing down enough to notice what God is doing. Gratitude really requires margin. And sometimes we just need to ask, am I too busy to notice God's goodness that's right in front of me? Sometimes we are in seasons where it's so hard sometimes to see what God is doing, or maybe he even feels like he's so distant. But oftentimes we don't slow down enough to notice where he is and what he's doing. So I challenge you to slow down and to really just take a moment to reset and relax this week. I know that is like such a challenge, and even maybe something that seems overwhelming to do. It's like another thing. Like you want me to rest now? Like, I have so much to do, I have so much on my to do list, I have all things going on. But I really do challenge you to just slow down, take a moment, whether it's like on a coffee run in the morning where you're solo and you just drop the kids off, or you have um a you know, three-minute walk to work from the parking lot, or you have some time during your lunch break on the drive to to your house to literally eat lunch, just take some time to slow down, cut off the noise, turn the radio off, turn off Spotify,

Encouragement For Every Season

SPEAKER_01 12:32

um, and just sit and reflect on where God is in your life right now, what he's doing, um, and really seek out how you can be grateful for that. So if you're driving or walking or sitting at your desk, whatever that looks like, if you're listening today, maybe you're in a season of joy, or maybe you're in a season of printing, or maybe you're just in a season of, oh my gosh, is this year over yet? I cannot do another day. I have totally been in each of those buckets, um, even in within this own year. Wherever you are, I just want to remind you that God wastes nothing. And you don't have to feel grateful to practice gratitude. Even practicing gratitude can even you can find yourself feeling more grateful for even the small things that God is doing in your life and in your story and in your season.

Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_01 13:35

And I'd love to just end this podcast with a prayer over you as you're whatever wherever you're at in the busyness of your day, or maybe you're doing something where you're actually relaxing for once. Um, I just want to pray over you. Lord, thank you so much for your presence in every single season. Teach us to be women who see your goodness, even in the small things, even in the hard things. Help us practice gratitude daily, not out of pressure, but out of trust of you and your goodness. Renew our minds, settle our hearts, and open our eyes to the gifts that you've placed right in front of us. Help us to be women who carry gratitude into our homes, into our friendships, our ministries, our church. We thank you so much for all that you've done, what you're doing, and what you will do. In Jesus' name. Amen.