4 Things I Learned (The Hard Way) To Be Thankful For

ByKia Stephens September 23, 2018June 17, 2019

Sometimes we don’t even notice how it impacts our countenance. That is unless the light of God’s word exposes how far we’ve drifted from a thankful heart. In Philippians 4:4, Paul tells us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Here, his command to “rejoice always” leaves no room for an explanation of our unique circumstances. He doesn’t want to know how difficult life may be. His directive to rejoice encompasses every adverse event we will ever face.

As I allow Paul’s words to sink in, I find myself questioning, “Is this really possible? Can we be thankful always? For every circumstance? Every setback? Every devastating occurrence?”

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I’ve mastered the spiritual discipline of thankfulness. My journey, rather, has been one of hindsight: often stumbling upon thankfulness several years down the road. If you are like me, hopefully, I can shave a few life lessons off of your journey by sharing 4 things I’ve learned to be thankful for the hard way.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Kia Stephens

Kia Stephens is passionate about helping women who lacked the emotional love and support of their fathers. As a child of divorced parents she knows the damaging impact growing up without a father can have on a woman. Kia candidly shares her story as source of encouragement for others. If you missed the love and affirmation of your father due to death, abuse, abandonment, divorce, or you never knew him THERE IS HOPE. God can and will fill the voids within your soul. Kia has experienced this first hand and today she attributes God's AMAZING grace for enabling her to forgive and love her dad. For this reason, she created The Father Swap blog to be a source of encouragement, healing, and practical wisdom for women dealing with the effects of a physically or emotionally absent father.