The Bible is full of examples of reasons why we should give gratitude to God. As a child of God, I recognize the gift I have been given by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. It seems almost impossible to praise and worship God without gratitude.

Having gone through a life-changing experience, one of the greatest emotions I discovered is gratitude. Viewing life through the lens of gratitude allowed me to put my focus on the positive vs the negative. If what we focus on grows, focusing on what’s good and right in my world has made me more aware of how blessed I am. It’s taught me to appreciate all that I have and not focus so much on what I don’t have. It also taught me to look for blessings during difficult times. The biggest blessing in any challenge is that it forces us to grow spiritually, if we let it.

Quote from quad amputee Wendy Wallace for Begin Within Gratitude Series: If what we focus on grows, focusing on what's good and right in my world has made me more aware of how blessed I am.

A Brand-New Quadruple Amputee

Back in 2011, I found myself in a hospital bed with bandages where both hands and both feet had been. A few weeks earlier I was diagnosed with a flesh-eating bacteria (AKA Necrotizing Fasciitis) that resulted in a three-week coma, multiple surgeries, and a three-month hospital stay.

My first memory after waking up from my coma was a prayer for strength, courage, and faith to get through life as a brand-new quadruple amputee. I had a choice to make. I could wallow in self-pity, or I could put my big girl panties on, and choose to approach the rest of my life with faith and a positive attitude. I wish I could tell you I jumped out of bed with a positive new lease on life, but that’s not actually what happened.

It took me quite some time to find my purpose in my new normal. I never doubted that God had a plan for my new life, but I was grieving the loss of some pretty essential body parts. I was sad, discouraged, and with the loss of my hands, pretty uncertain about what my day-to-day life would look like.

The duties that I took for granted as a wife and a mom to my three teenagers, shaped my perspective of who I was. Suddenly, I could no longer cook, clean, or do laundry. I couldn’t run my kids to their activities, and I couldn’t even shower and dress myself. I was pretty lost.

What My Life-Changing Experience Taught Me

It took a lot of prayer, Bible study, and time to figure it all out. Gratitude played an essential role in my healing as well. A pessimistic attitude creates negativity and finding fault in everything that’s wrong with life. Optimism, on the other hand, and thankfulness are essential parts of increased joy and a positive mood. I fought that negativity with everything that I had, and as a child of God let Him take the wheel. He helped me to focus on the positive, and reminded me that all things work together for our good and His glory.

I fought that negativity with everything that I had, and as a child of God let Him take the wheel_Wendy Wallace quote for Begin Within: A Gratitude Series

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (KJV).

I grew so much spiritually and emotionally in the years after my amputations. I also found the key to maintaining my joy and peace through the struggles of life. The answer was in growing my relationship with the Lord, counting my blessings, and serving others in my most painful moments.

Gratitude is a habit. There is a rule called the 21/90 rule, which states that it takes 21 days to build a habit, but it takes 90 days to make it a permanent lifestyle change. Building a new gratitude habit takes conscious effort. I believe that gratitude is essential to a healthy perspective during trials. But it’s also the foundation of worship. If we are going to successfully navigate the challenges we face, and still give glory to God it’s important to grow our gratitude habit.

I am a firm believer that if you are willing to look, you can find a silver lining in any dark cloud. Every day is the perfect opportunity to show thankfulness. But it truly is all about choice.

Meet Wendy Wallace

Wendy Wallace is a wife, mom, Memaw, Christian Living and Positivity coach, Inspirational blogger, and author. She is also a quadruple amputee. She loves spending time with her family, talking to her flowers, and eating lots of ice cream.

A flesh-eating bacterial infection resulted in a coma, a three-month hospital stay, and amputations of both hands and both feet. What you might consider the worst thing that could’ve happened, actually was for her good and God’s glory. By God’s wonderful grace, she is living “One Exceptional Life” where, in true form with 2 Corinthians 1:4, God comforted her in all her tribulations so that she can comfort, encourage, and lead other women in theirs.

Her mission is to help women rediscover God’s joy and peace amid the trials of life by becoming more intentional with Him. You can find her at One Exceptional Life, where she writes about overcoming challenges, spiritual growth, joy, peace, gratitude, and positivity.

Where to find her . . .

Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.

If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.

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Creating Ripples

If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.