Cultivate Gratitude: Thankful, Grateful, Blessed - "Thankful" (1 Samuel 2:1)

Thankful is reflecting the inner awareness of appreciation for the circumstances, people or posture of life itself. Gratitude begins in the heart. You feel it. In Hannah's surrender - she breaks forth with thanksgiving. Hannah's pain and disappointment makes her thankfulness all the more significant. Thankfulness is not just based upon the current circumstances but in the confident provision of God. Even the stories of the pilgrims and their first thanksgiving, grew out of significant loss and pain. No doubt, her thanksgiving in chapter 2 is the eruption resulting from Samuel's birth - but her focus is on the goodness of God. And just after that prayer - she returns home - without Samuel. But not without God. Be thankful! Be thankful in your surrender!