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Grateful When Life Is Hard · The Counseling Room

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  Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Dr. Darlene Turner, and welcome to the ninth
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  Speaker 1: episode of the eighth season of The Counseling Room, where
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  Speaker 1: I can bring the safe space to you. So in
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  Speaker 1: today's episode, we will be discussing Grateful in the Middle.
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  Speaker 1: It comes from 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18. It says,
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to The Counseling Room. I'm Dr. Darlene Turner. You know,
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  Speaker 1: as we enter November, we naturally begin thinking about gratitude.
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  Speaker 1: Thanksgiving reminds us to pause and recognize the blessings in
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  Speaker 1: our lives. But today I want to talk about something
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  Speaker 1: a little bit deeper. How do you remain grateful when
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  Speaker 1: life isn't going the way we hoped? Because sometimes gratitude
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  Speaker 1: is easy when bills are paid, when we're healthy, when
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  Speaker 1: the answer to our prayers finally come. But what about
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  Speaker 1: when you're still waiting? What about when you're grieving? What
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  Speaker 1: about when you're disappointed? What about those times when you're
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  Speaker 1: trying to hold yourself together? Can you still find something
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  Speaker 1: to be grateful for? Paul tells us in everything give thanks.
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  Speaker 1: Notice he didn't say for everything. There's a difference. But
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  Speaker 1: you can be thankful that God is carrying you through it.
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  Speaker 1: You can be thankful for the disappointment. You can be
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  Speaker 1: thankful for the fact that he's still faithful. You may
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  Speaker 1: not be thankful for the uncertainty, but you can be
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  Speaker 1: thankful that God is still your strong tower. You may
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  Speaker 1: not like where you are, but you can still recognize
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  Speaker 1: that God is with you wherever you are. That's a
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  Speaker 1: different kind of gratitude. It's not pretending everything's okay. It's
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  Speaker 1: not denying your pain. It's not putting a smile on
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  Speaker 1: your face while your heart is still hurting. But biblical
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  Speaker 1: gratitude allows you to acknowledge the pain and while still
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  Speaker 1: acknowledging God. And that's important emotionally. You don't have to
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  Speaker 1: choose between being honest about what hurts and being grateful.
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  Speaker 1: You can say, Lord, this hurts, but I still trust you. Lord,
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  Speaker 1: I don't understand, but I still believe you. Lord, I'm disappointed,
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  Speaker 1: but I still know you are good. That's mature faith.
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  Speaker 1: That's honest faith. That's gratitude in the middle. So this November,
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  Speaker 1: don't just ask yourself, what am I thankful for? Ask,
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  Speaker 1: where have I seen God carry me? Think about the
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  Speaker 1: moments when you thought you weren't going to make it,
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  Speaker 1: and yet you did. Think about the doors God opened,
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  Speaker 1: the protection you didn't even realize you needed, the strength
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  Speaker 1: you didn't know you had, the prayers God answered, and
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  Speaker 1: even the prayers he answered differently than you expected. You
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  Speaker 1: are here now. And that is worth thanking God for.
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  Speaker 1: Let's pray. Father, thank you for every blessing, but also
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  Speaker 1: thank you for being with us in the difficult places.
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  Speaker 1: Help us find gratitude even when life is not perfect.
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  Speaker 1: Give us eyes to see your goodness, even in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of uncertainty. Help us to remember how far you
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  Speaker 1: have brought us and trust you with where you are
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  Speaker 1: taking us. In Jesus's name, amen. And here's the reminder today.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to have a perfect life to have
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  Speaker 1: a grateful heart. Sometimes gratitude is simply saying, God, I
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  Speaker 1: don't understand it all, but I'm thankful you are here
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  Speaker 1: with me. This is Dr. Darlene Turner, and I'll see
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  Speaker 1: you next time in the counseling room.