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March 15, 2023 14 mins

Is gratitude your attitude? 

www.mattandmelissapisani.com

@puzzleisreal

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Puzzle is Real podcast where we will be
discussing faith, family, andrelationships hosted by Matt and
Melissa Paani.
This is The Puzzle is realpodcast.
When you know, you know,

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey,

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Hey, how you doing?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Come here often.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Ah, maybe every once a week or so, ha.
Fancy meeting you here.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I'm very thankful for you

Speaker 3 (00:31):
And I'm very grateful for you

Speaker 2 (00:35):
This week's episode.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Gratitude is the attitude.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
I like it

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Cheesy, it rhymes and it is the truth.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, let's talk about it.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, we were having a really good conversation about
what we're thankful for and I'vegotten a lot sier with my
gratitude and I think this isgood, is that I feel like I
really appreciate nature muchmore than I did when I was
younger.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
I don't think that's cheesy.
I think that's just yourealizing what's around you and
you not taking the time maybeprior cuz you had foggy goggles
on.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, well that's, I think what I was trying to get
at too was the idea that whatmay seem cheesy was probably
more or less just things thatwere, um, distracting me from
appreciating God's creation andthings that are, are so simple
but yet so beautiful.
And again, years of being drunk,being high before I came back to

(01:53):
the Lord, I missed on a lot ofgood stuff.
And I've said this to Melissabefore that I, I really, um, I
never want that to happen again.
I never want to feel like I'mmissing out and so many years of
just being in cool places, doingcool things, but no recollection
of it cuz I always was impairedor, uh, wasted.
So praise God for beingdelivered of that.

(02:14):
And I say that with humility,not to be silly or funny, but
just to be like, wow, what agreat way to be able to live
with a sober mind and a clearperspective on God's goodness,
his details, the minor thingsand the big things.
And we just wanted to reallytalk about how to find ways to
continue to give thanks to Godfor all that he's doing.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Yeah.
And just to find joy andcontentment.
I think what you can only reallyfind that is when you're in his
presence because that'severlasting.
That is just what's written inhis word, is just the truth and
it's a promise.
And when you're praying to himand you're just having that
quiet time with him where you'rejust listening or you're

(02:58):
journaling, I think that's wherethe true um, just peace comes
over you just knowing that he'sin control and then it gives you
just the opportunity to godeeper with him and to just open
your eyes.
Right?
Like Matt was saying, to likereally look at the details of
what's right around us.
And I'm, right now I just hadthe image of, you know, Matt and

(03:21):
I's Wedding.
We got married in the RockyMountains in

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Park

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Colorado and where we got married it was outdoor
venue.
I mean just the majesty of thatwhole setting.
It was just unreal.
Like it

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Was like a green screen.
Yes.
It didn't look real.
It was and a Bob Ross paintingYeah.
At the highest level

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Really.
It really was.
And everyone who was there waslike, oh my goodness.
Like the pictures just didn't nojustice.
Like you have to see it withyour own eyes and you know, you
think about the ocean, you thinkabout all this stuff when you're
in that presence it's like youfeel the overwhelming just, um,
I I guess how just God is somuch greater than we can ever

(04:04):
even imagine by just looking atall that he's created.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah.
You think about how everyonedocuments traveling and like, oh
look at this awesome place I'mat right now.
And, and the pictures don't doit justice, but there's so many
people out there that are takingthese pictures and don't even
realize who the creator is.
Right.
They've been in this funk or, ormaybe they've just never had an

(04:27):
encounter with God, but like Godhas created so many beautiful
things for us to enjoy naturalthings.
We had, um, went to Lake Tahoe.
Mm.
That place is unreal.
If you've ever

Speaker 3 (04:38):
Been to Lake

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Tahoe,

Speaker 3 (04:39):
So beautiful.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Um, just again places that, that are right here in our
country that are gorgeous andwe've been out of the country
and gone to different placeswhere we've seen beauty.
So yeah, there's just somethingabout that.
And we just wanted to encourageeveryone listening that seek God
and, and continue to give thankscuz he is good and his love
endures forever.
And, and it's um, it's soimportant that we walk in

(05:02):
gratitude.
It truly should be our dailyroutine, the gift thanks in and
out of season even when thingsare lousy and they're not going
in our favor.
Mm-hmm.
give thanks,continue to acknowledge that,
that God is, is here.
He's, he's constantly moving onour behalf.
He is the way maker.
And and that's something that,you know, we just really thought

(05:22):
would be important to remind ourlisteners, our friends too, our,
our puzzles real family.
That that gratitude is somethingthat we can practice and we can
teach others about it.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah.
And I think as our world kind ofspirals out of control at times,
people are gonna look to us asbelievers and they'll ask the
questions.
Cuz obviously not everyone'sgonna know we're believers, but
if they see that we're in thislike, peaceful mindset, cuz we
know who's on the throne, weknow where we're going and we

(05:54):
know who's in control, um,that's gonna point people to him
as just by us being differentand not being of the world where
we're frazzled and depressed andfearful, we're like, no, you
know what, yes, we might havereal human emotions when we're
going through certain things andwe see things on the news or
whatever, but we ultimately knowthat our creator, um, knows the

(06:17):
beginning and the end and wehave to just, I guess just sit
back and realize that he's gotit all worked out.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
Amen.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
And we have to trust him.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
So that, that's Psalm 1 0 7, 1, give thanks to the
Lord for his good, his lovingdoors forever.
That's definitely somethingthat, you know, still resonates
today.
Right.
And then the one that I alsowanted to lean on for us when it
comes to like being hopeful,cause a lot of times it's hard
to give thanks when you losehope, but it's also important
that as we, we hope in the Lordhe's gonna renew our strength

(06:53):
and just as it states in Isaiah40 31, the they will soar on
wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not be faint.
So for those of us to hope inthe Lord, he's gonna renew our
strength and he's even gonnarenew our gratitude.
I believe that as, as we gothrough trials and different
challenges, man, you appreciatethings so much more when you get

(07:17):
outside of that crazy trial orthat crazy moment where you're
like, oh man, this can get anyworse.
And then you boom, God justdelivers you of that and you're
walking in freedom and gratitudeis on your heart.
You're, you're acknowledgingmm-hmm.
that if it wasn'tfor God, you wouldn't be walking
in that gratitude.
You'd probably have bitternessand, and resentment towards, you

(07:40):
know, whatever your situationis.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah.
And even going through hardtimes.
And then once you get to theother side and you realize, wow,
if I wouldn't have gone throughthat, I wouldn't appreciated, I
wouldn't have appreciatedeverything that I have now.
Because when you're in thetrial, you think, oh my gosh, my
life's over.
This is never gonna get better.
And then you look back, you'relike, thank God for that,
because then this happened andthat happened.
And then you wouldn't have theright perspective if you

(08:05):
wouldn't have gone through thoseto appreciate what you do have.
And like, one thing for all myladies, my mom's out there, you
know, you go through nine monthsof ha you know, being pregnant
with a child and you know, somewomen have terrible pregnancies,
terrible labor experiences,birthing experiences.
But on the other side, it's likeGod's promise is there is like
that beautiful child.
So it's like we endure so muchand sometimes he gives us that

(08:27):
physical pain and that physicalreminder just like Jesus did,
right?
Mm-hmm.
, he like sufferedjust like we suffered.
But the end result is you endwith the father by going through
him.
So I know when I look at ourkids, I'm just reminded of just
his, his power and just hisdetail and just looking at every

(08:48):
little detail of their faces andtheir personalities and just the
crevices on their ears and justhow he perfectly designed each
and every single person andthing on this planet and inner
universe to his accord.
And that is just such a powerfulmind blowing reminder of just
who he is.
And the fact that he wants to beclose to us is very humbling and

(09:11):
definitely puts me in a gratefulplace because I'm like, wow, you
want a relationship with me andyou've created it all.
Like how powerful.
And he wants it with everyone,which is just, it's just the
most incredible, just eventhought like I, I literally, I
get mind blown.
I'm like, whoa, P mind is blown.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
It's, it's unreal.
And man, what a cool role we getto play to share this with
others and to say, yeah, I'mthankful.
And I even think of recently Igot up early Bible app, boom,
what's there?
Isaiah 40 31, right?

(09:49):
This one of my favorite versesthat I was just referring to,
but those who trust in the Lordwill find new strength.
This is the new livingtranslation version.
They will soar high on wingslike eagles.
They will run in that grow area.
They will walk and not faint.
So I felt, God wake me up early.
You ever feel like you gotta getup early and just spend time
with God?
And I got up on my bike, back onmy bike, I'm healed and I am

(10:14):
restored and I'm looking bothways and I'm keeping my eyes on
the road when I'm on my bike.
, that's from a previousepisode, you'll have to listen.
So I'm on the bike and what do Isee near the local shopping
center?
A straight up bald eagle,America's bird sitting on a
branch.

Speaker 3 (10:33):
That's so cool.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
And I just felt God just giving me that joy.
I stopped, I took pictures toshare with Melissa and with the
family.
And it's just so cool when Godlike just even reminds you of
how he's in every detail fromthat app, that pre-program that
this verse was gonna come out onthe day that I was gonna get up
early.
That's so cool.
Ride my bike randomly by theshopping center and see a bald

(10:56):
eagle sitting on the branch.
My favorite bird to go and tryto see that you always look for
and rarely see.
And I see it.
And it just again brought usback to this thankfulness of
just this creation.
And, and the list goes onwhether you like to go, you
know, whale watching or just sitin your backyard and, and watch

(11:16):
the birds at the bird feeder,you know, seek God, and, and
also look at the things aroundus to say, wow.
Like what do I have to bethankful for today?
There's gotta be something thatyou can see with just right
outside your door.
We're like, wow, this isawesome.

Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, it's so cool.
Like even this morning, youknow, I didn't wanna wake up,
you know, this whole time change, daylight saving things.
I think it messes everyone upfor a couple days.
It's not fun.
It's not fun.
So I had to take mercy to herhomeschool group and I woke up
and it was like the sun wascoming up and there was like
this beautiful like Amber Goldencolor coming through our window

(11:56):
and I was just literallythanking him this morning.
Like, wow, like just thank youfor waking me up this morning.
Thank you for this beautifulsunrise that I don't often get
to see.
But um, you know, now because ofdaylight saving times, we got to
see it.
Hello.
But it's just being grateful forthe little things and as a
reminder when we are goingthrough the storm to change that

(12:19):
perspective and not focus onwhat you know you're going
through in that moment, but toreally thank God for what he is
doing and what is he's going todo through that hard time.
I think that's where we need toland as believers and as others
who are distressed and goingthrough hard times is like, we
have to look differently inthose.

(12:39):
And not saying we're not gonnahave weak moments, we of course
are we're human, but don't staythere.
I think that's our job is to getout of that and to have that
grateful, thankful heart.
Because gratitude should be ourattitude

Speaker 2 (12:54):
And his love endures forever

Speaker 3 (12:57):
And ever and ever.
Like each time ever, ever, ever.
Yeah.
It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
So we just again, wanted to challenge everyone
today that give thanks, findsomething to be thankful for.
We know it's not Thanksgiving,we're not talking about that
here, but every day we should bethankful.
We should be getting on ourknees if we can physically and
just thank God for just givingus a new day to be an
inspiration to someone else, toencourage someone else mm-hmm.

(13:23):
and just to bethankful for those around us.
And, and we just thank each ofyou for, for sharing these
episodes and sharing this visionwith us for a family faith
relationship style podcast wherehopefully you're getting
something out of these episodesthat it's not us, but God
speaking to you on somethingthat you've been pondering or

(13:45):
maybe something that he's beenpressing on you.

Speaker 3 (13:47):
Yeah.
And we just appreciate you guysso much and can't wait to share
more.
And if there's ever a topic youwant us to talk about, shoot us
a DM at Puzzle is real and uh,yeah, we will be back here soon.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Hey guys, thanks so much for listening to the Puzzle
Real podcast.
Please subscribe today and sharewith a friend.
See you soon.
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