“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Psalm 100:4

My husband and I are American missionaries in South Africa. We have encountered extreme need as we have fed the hungry, cared for the sick, and walked through the lowest of valleys with many. In the midst of our work, we’ve faced seemingly insurmountable legal obstacles in travel visas and obtaining rights for our South African son. One particularly hot summer, my man, the protector and provider of our family, was overwhelmed with the legal battles, and I was struggling to regulate my blood sugar and overcome hormonal imbalances. I was tracking every bite,  managing macronutrients closely, and everything still felt out of whack. One sweltering day in a swimming pool, my husband and I decided to choose gratitude in our hard circumstances.

Does any mama need to choose gratitude today? Do you need to focus on your blessings, even when it’s hard?

My husband and I sought refuge from the heat for our bodies and peace for our souls that day in the pool. Together, we decided to say a prayer of gratitude every single time despair sank our spirits. We would find something to thank God for in that specific sorrow. If nothing else, we could at least thank God that we needed Him and weren’t meant to sustain ourselves.

That day in the pool, we decided to bring my husband’s discouragement and my health into God’s presence. Psalm 100:4a says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving,” and God’s presence was exactly where we needed to be.  I could  stop feeling sorry for myself for not getting to eat what I wanted, and choose to thank God for reminding me I need discipline with every single bite. I actually started to see blessings as I faced my health battles. Our problems were not solved on that hot summer day, but our spirits were strengthened.

Dear friend, it may seem like a stretch to practice entering into God’s presence with thanksgiving during the long, lonely nights with an inconsolable infant, but those are the times you need to the most. It is truly amazing that you can be ushered right into your Heavenly Father’s presence with just a simple word of gratitude, even if it’s, “Thank you God for reminding me that I need you in this moment.”

What if your greatest place of need also became a fountain of gratitude in your life? Mama, my prayer for you is that the struggles in your spirit remind you that you are loved by a good God whose greatest desire is to welcome you into His holy arms and be your strength when you are weak.

Let’s Pray

Thank You Father for reminding me that I cannot live without You. Help me to bring my needs to You with a heart that is grateful because You make me strong when I am weak.  Amen.

Love,

Kacy and the Help Club for Moms Team

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Kacy Ladd

Hi! I’m Kacy. I am so grateful to have the most unexpected family. I left my job as a marriage and family therapist in Texas for a “6-month mission trip” to South Africa in 2010 and stayed when I met a little boy who needed a mama. That little boy is now a teenager who towers over me, and I still love hearing him call me “Mom”.

Five years into single parenting in the African bush, a Tennessee man also entered the mission field. We met and decided to stay in South Africa and get married.

We are now living in Cape Town, South Africa building up the local church with our teenager and toddler boys.

Help Club for Moms became a lifeline to me when I was lonely on the mission field with a new baby in a foreign country. I am so thankful to write for this community and to document God’s work in my own family at http://www.ladd.family

Latest posts by Kacy Ladd (see all)

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• Turn Your Groaning Into Gratitude - July 13, 2023