122. Growing a Heart of Thanksgiving — Even in the Challenging Seasons

In this post-Thanksgiving episode, I invite listeners into a personal and Scripture-rich reflection on what it truly means to cultivate a heart of gratitude — not only when life feels abundant, but especially when it feels uncertain, stretching, or emotionally heavy.

Through a biblical study of thanksgiving and a deeply personal parenting story, we explore how God grows our hearts in hidden, humble, everyday ways.

What This Episode Covers

1. Giving Thanks In All Circumstances

We discuss the difference between giving thanks for everything versus giving thanks in everything — and why Scripture calls us to live from God’s reality rather than our circumstances.

Bible Verse:

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18 — “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

2. Gratitude in the Valley — Jeremiah 29 and Parenting

Alexandra shares a meaningful moment with her 11-year-old daughter who has been navigating friendship challenges at school and church.
 Through tears, prayers, and divine wisdom, God reminded her:

“She is Mine before she is yours. And I love her more than you ever will.”

This leads into a powerful application of Jeremiah 29: how God calls us to grow where we are planted, even in seasons that feel uncomfortable or unclear.

Bible Verse:

• Jeremiah 29:5 — “Build homes and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.”

3. The Silent Work of God

We explore how God often works quietly in our lives — through steady, subtle transformation rather than loud breakthroughs — and why gratitude helps us recognize His presence.

Bible Verse:

• Philippians 2:13 — “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

4. A Biblical Framework for Growing in Gratitude

Alexandra introduces a simple 3-step process rooted in Scripture:

Remember

Look back on God’s past faithfulness.

• Psalm 103:2 — “Bless the Lord… and forget not all His benefits.”

Recognize

See His hand in the present moment.

• James 1:17 — “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”

Respond

Practice intentional thanksgiving.

• Colossians 3:15 — “…and be thankful.”

5. A Five-Minute Thanksgiving Practice

Listeners are guided into a simple exercise:

• What has God done that I need to remember?
• Where do I see His hand today?
• What promise am I holding onto for tomorrow?

A beautiful way to end Thanksgiving week with renewed gratitude.

 Scriptures Mentioned in This Episode

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18
• Jeremiah 29:5
• Philippians 2:13
• Psalm 103:2
• James 1:17
• Colossians 3:15

If This Episode Encouraged You…

Share it with a friend or parent who may be walking through a challenging season.
 Leave a rating or review so others can find Curious for Christ and grow in their walk with Jesus.

Thank you for being here.
 Happy Thanksgiving weekend — may God continue to cultivate gratitude and peace in your heart.

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Transcript

0:00

Hi, and welcome back to Curious for Christ. I'm your host Alexandra Alvarez, and I'm so thankful you're tuning in today, especially on this Friday after Thanksgiving, and I hope yesterday was filled with joy, rest, family, and good food. But I also know this season can stir up mixed emotions. Gratitude can feel very natural or very challenging depending on the seasons we are in. Today's episode is a heartfelt Bible study and a reflection on what it means to grow a heart of thanksgiving, not just when life is good, but especially in the seasons that feel uncertain or stretching. And my prayer is that this message meets you where you are encourages your spirit and reminds you that God is present and working even in the quiet, hidden places. Let's go. Welcome to Curious for Christ. Do you ever find yourself lying, awake at night wondering about God's plan for your life? Maybe you wake up with big dreams, but feel unsure where to start or what your next step should be. If you're curious about exploring your faith and finding purpose, then you've come to the right place. Hi, I'm Alexandra. I too felt lost and sure of the direction my life was taking. I yearned to understand my purpose and have someone guide me, but I kept telling myself I was too busy. The timing wasn't right, and my lack of clarity prevented me from being consistent until I found Christ. He brought peace into my life and revealed the way to find purpose by anchoring myself. In him. In this podcast, we'll journey together exploring the Bible to gain a deeper understanding of him and cultivate your own personal relationship with Christ. So open up your Bible, put in those earbuds and listen up because God is speaking to you. He's making everything new and you don't wanna miss it. Let's get started. So one of the most well-known verses about gratitude is First Thessalonians five, verse 18, which says, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ. Jesus. This verse is quite bold because it doesn't say, give thanks for all circumstances, as as if we should celebrate hardship. It says, give thanks in all circumstances, which means that gratitude isn't rooted in what's happening around us, but in who is working within us. God never asked us to deny. Of course, our reality, he asks us to bring gratitude into our reality because Thanksgiving reorients our perspective back to him. Gratitude is not pretending that everything is perfect, but it is choosing to acknowledge God's goodness in the midst of everything. Also, there's a passage that God has been speaking to me through recently, and it's one that I haven't shared before on this podcast. It actually came up during a Bible study that I was leading, and it reshaped my heart in a deeper way, even in my parenting, and I will share more about that. It is Jeremiah 29 verse five, where God tells his people in exile, build homes and settle down, plant a gardens, and eat what they produce. So for the context, Israel was far from where they wanted to be. They were in exile and they were going to be in exile for a very long time, actually 70 years, seven zero. It's a lifetime and their expectations. Were quite shattered. Their comfort definitely was gone because they were in exile away from the promised Land, which to them meant God's blessing. God's presence. So had God abandoned them forever, they were hoping, of course, for a quick rescue and. Interesting because we are like that as well. When we are going through challenging times, we pray to get out of them. We pray for quick rescue and God didn't say, hold on, I'll rescue you tomorrow. No. Instead he said, build homes, plant gardens flourish. Even here. And so this scripture really came alive for me recently because my daughter, who is 11, has been facing challenges with friendships at church and at school. You know, this is an age where you're trying to find where you fit and who you belong with, what your identity is. And my role is to hold her heart and shape her the way that God would want me to. You know, she desires things, friendships, moments, experiences, good things. And as her mother, of course, my heart wants to give her everything. I want to protect her. I wanna fill the gaps. I wanna fix the hurts. But God has been reminding me over and over that she is mine before she is yours. And I love her more than you could ever comprehend. So. I pray constantly, not just that she receives what she longs for, but that God becomes the one shaping her into that woman that he wants her to be. And that means I have to be intentional about how much I give and when I give, because I want her heart. Filled with God before it is filled with anything else. So with that scripture in mind from Jeremiah 29, verse five, I told her even if the seasons feel uncomfortable, even if friendships, come and go, or when they are great another not so great, they're very uncertain. You can still grow here. You can still be who God is forming you to be right here. You can still plant seeds that God will cause to bloom in the future. And she understood, you know, there's something that's settled in her spirit, and I believe that's truth because truth truly sets you free. And since then I've seen a softening on her heart. A maturity and peace. Peace in the midst of it all. And not because everything changed instantly, of course, because she's about to enter all of the uncomfortable changes that teenage years will bring. But God is doing something in her heart, in her life, and my job is to point it out to her. It's not to rescue her from God himself, but it's to point her to what God is doing so that she can have hope in him and he's truly at the center, and that makes me grateful. So this has taught me something that Thanksgiving is not about waiting for life to get easier. It's about recognizing that God is faithful in the middle of the difficulty, and we can flourish you and I right here where God has us and so can our children as well. So another thing that I've been grateful for lately is what I call the silent work of God. You know the work that doesn't come with fireworks, big winds that everybody notices. It's the growth that you don't notice day by day. Not even you, but as you clinging to God, faithfully and obediently, day in, day out, one morning you wake up and you realize that God has been transforming you all along. Philippians two 13 says, God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. So much of his work is actually quiet. It's steady, it's hidden in the soil of our lives, like roots that form before the fruit ever appears. And that is the hard part. This is the hardest part. It's a miracle because circumstances can be changed. It's easy. For us to be grateful and thankful when our circumstances all align. But our transformation is truly what is hard to achieve the transformation from the inside out. So maybe you're in a season where you don't see God doing anything big, but remember stillness doesn't mean absence. Silence doesn't mean inactivity. And often gratitude grows most powerfully in these silent seasons. Because when we change from the inside out, we really see that anything is possible, right? So if you're listening and wondering, how do I grow in gratitude right now, well, here is a simple biblical framework. It's called the three Rs. Number one, remember, number two, recognize number three, respond. Respond. So remember Psalm 1 0 3 verse two says, bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits. So look back and recall God's faithfulness. Remember number two, recognize James one. Verse 17 says, every good and perfect gift is from above. Nothing good in your life is random. It's actually intentional. And if there is anything good at all it's because of God. Recognize number three, respond. Colossians three, verse 15 says, and be thankful. Gratitude is a discipline. It's a choice and it's a practice. It's not something that we wait to feel. It's something we choose to cultivate, and I personally always pray to God, show me where I can be grateful. Because sometimes it is hard to see and to go beyond our circumstance, but God is faithful even in these types of requests. Show me and help me be thankful right now. So here's an exercise for the weekend. A Thanksgiving reflection exercise that only takes five minutes. Write down number one, what has God done that I need to remember? Number two, where do I see his hand today, even in small ways? Number three, what promise am I holding on to for tomorrow? This is biblical Thanksgiving. Remembering, recognizing, and responding. So as we continue this Thanksgiving week, I want you to hear this. You do not need a perfect season to have a thankful spirit. You simply need eyes that recognize God, even in the valley, even in the waiting, even in the Silence.. Gratitude won't erase difficulty. Actually, God does say that in this world you will have trouble, but gratitude will strengthen your heart. Gratitude won't change every circumstance, but it will change you, and that is spiritual maturity. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this Thanksgiving season. Teach us God to give thanks in all circumstances. Not because everything is easy, but because you are good and faithful and always present, always at work. I pray for every listener, adults, and children that you shape our hearts, guide our families, and help us flourish exactly where you've placed us. Give us grateful spirits, softened hearts, and renewed hope. And in Jesus name I pray, amen. Thank you so much for joining me on Cures for Christ. I'm truly grateful for every one of you, and if this episode spoke to you, please share it with someone who might need a word of encouragement today. Also, it helps other people find this episode. I'll see you in the next episode and have a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend. Bye for now. Hi, I hope you enjoy today's episode. If so, would you like to take 30 seconds and share it with a friend who may also struggle with knowing God and his purpose for their life? Also, leave a review on Apple. Podcast and let me know what topics you'd like to hear about in the future. Your voice matters. I'll meet you back next Friday for another episode.