This Thanksgiving week, I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to rush past moments of grace while juggling ministry, family, and the secret pressures we never say out loud. Maybe you feel it too—the weight of always giving without stopping to breathe.

This week, I want to personally invite us to pause together and lean into something simple yet powerful: gratitude.

Not the polite kind we put in greeting cards.
Not the “I know I should be grateful” kind.
But the kind that shifts something inside your body, your brain, and your spirit.

✧ The Neuroscience of Gratitude

Neuroscience researchers have found that genuine expressions of gratitude activate two powerful parts of the brain:

• The ventral tegmental area, which releases dopamine—the “reward” chemical that boosts motivation and energy.
• The prefrontal cortex, which helps regulate emotions and reduces anxiety and stress.

Studies using fMRI scans have shown that practicing gratitude—even for a few minutes—can lower cortisol (the stress hormone), calm the nervous system, improve sleep, and even strengthen the immune system. Your body literally responds to thanksgiving with healing!!!

Isn’t it beautiful that God designed us this way?
That the very act of thanking Him rewires and restores us?

✧ The Scripture That Meets the Science

Long before any researcher put someone in a brain scanner, God told us:

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

Not for all circumstances, but in them. Gratitude opens a doorway for God’s peace to enter places where anxiety used to rule.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine…” — Proverbs 17:22
Science now proves this is literally true.

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving…” — Psalm 100:4
Gratitude is not just polite—it’s spiritual access. It shifts the posture of our hearts so we can step closer to Him.

✧ A Personal Note

I have been reminded over and over again how powerful gratitude is. And this week, as I sat with the Lord, He gently whispered,
“Daughter, gratitude is how you make space for Me. It's how you connect with me and I can refill your soul.”

It stopped me.
Because I realized how often I fill my mind with tasks and needs, but gratitude makes room for His presence, His calm, His clarity.

Maybe you’ve felt stretched thin too.
Maybe ministry has been heavy.
Maybe joy feels like something you’re supposed to have, but not something you’ve had the energy to feel.

If so, you’re not alone. And gratitude may be the gentle reset your heart has been needing. 

✧ A Simple Thanksgiving Practice

This week, try this:

1. Take 90 seconds.
2. Name three things you’re grateful for—big or tiny and allow your body to respond to it and create the deep emotion of gratitude! 
3. Breathe deeply and thank God for each one.

Feel what happens in your body.
Your shoulders soften.
Your breath steadies.
Your mind clears.
Your spirit lifts.

This is God’s gift to you.

Sisters, I am so grateful for you.
For your obedience.
Your hearts for the ministry God's placed on your heart.
Your perseverance.
Your presence in this community.

May gratitude be the doorway that leads you into renewed strength and unexpected joy this Thanksgiving week.

With love and thankfulness,
Shannon Waldron
Founder of The Good Ministry Life