Sometimes we get what we want. Other times, we get what we need, and we may not always like it. But if we call ourselves believers, we must also believe our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us.

I’ve been reading John 15 lately. I first fell in love with that passage when I read the Bible for the first time in my life. I was 22, hurting, young, and impressionable, when I decided to root my life in the vine.

“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful . . . Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” Jn 15:1-4

This passage goes on to say that he will keep pruning us until his joy is in us and our joy is complete. 

For most people, there is a deep longing inside to have something they don’t have. Which is why practicing gratitude is so vital to our wellbeing. The first words in my journal every single day this week have been thanks. I’m determined to start my day with gratitude before life hits me full steam.

So I don’t get swept away in what’s not right, I begin my day with what is. 

If you are not getting what you want, maybe your heavenly Father — or earthly father for that matter — is giving you what you need instead. 

The hard truths mold us if we let them.

When we peer long enough into our days to glimpse and catch the things we are grateful for, we realize: 

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” – James 1:17

This Thanksgiving, capture gratitude. Journal it. Record it. Post it. Share it. But most of all, remember this: your heavenly Father loves you so much that He’s not going to stop pruning you until His joy is made complete in you — and your joy is full.

May that joy begins today . . . 

Happy Thanksgiving from our Home to Yours,