Say "Thanks"? For What???

Since coming to college, I've learned many "tricks" for dealing with stress. Thursday night, however, stress rolled itself up in a big ball and came flying at me. It hit me with such a great force that I had no idea where it came from or what to do with it. I was so overwhelmed that the thought to pray about it didn't even cross my mind until one of my roommates sent me to my room to do just that. The next morning, I slept in and went I got up, I wasn't feeling much better. I made a list of everything I had to over the weekend and took everything to God. Usually, that's more than enough to give me the peace I need. However, the whole day, I was fighting to keep a calm head. This morning when I got up, nothing had changed. Before even looking at my to do list, I pulled out my Bible and journal and started to do a quiet time. Yet I was still distracted by stress. I asked God what was going on and as I sat there and listened, I began to worship Him. Then I felt Him say, "Give thanks." My immediate response was "What!? Give thanks? I'm overwhelmed with stuff to do and You want me to give thanks?" He reminded me of something said at morning prayer on Monday - I'm not entitled to anything. It's all a gift from God. As hard as it was, I began to thank Him for everything that was stressing me out. I began to thank Him that I get to study anatomy and physiology, that I get to serve dinner to a bunch of international students tonight, that I have work to do for fundraising because He's been faithful in bringing in the money I need, that I have the blessing of having responsibility in a ministry that's changing lives. As I began to thank Him for these things, my perspective changed. All of a sudden, it wasn't about how much I had to do, but the countless gifts He had given me. Who knew being thankful could change so much?