Psalms 107:1 — “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!”

The AC gave out in the middle of a Louisiana summer afternoon, which is just about the worst timing possible. I was in our bedroom, stuffing pajamas into a suitcase and trying not to lose my cool, emotionally and physically.

We were packing up to stay at my husband’s parents’ house for a few days. While our house was basically a sauna, theirs at least had working air.

I was grumbling under my breath as I packed. This was not just about busted AC. I was tired of things not going smoothly and the endless to-do lists that never shrunk. I was frustrated from feeling stuck in places I thought I would have outgrown by now.

It was like the broken AC had cracked open a door I had been trying to hold shut.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, suitcase half-zipped, and started praying. It was not the sweet kind of prayers. No, it was an honest, messy pouring out of everything I was carrying. I told God how tired I was, how heavy it all felt.

In the quiet that followed, I felt Him meet me there, not with shame but with clarity. He helped me notice what I had missed in my storm of frustration: my complaining was not changing anything, but it was changing me.

I realized my peace was slipping through my fingers, and in its place, distress was robbing me of joy. In that moment I remembered: my family was safe, we were loved, and we had extended family willing to opening their home to us. Oh, the heat was real, but so was the goodness I had been missing in my spiral.

I could keep circling that same drain of frustration, or I could climb out (slowly, but intentionally) by choosing gratitude.

So, I took a breath, counted ten, and started counting the good. Not out loud, just in my heart. And I could feel it already—something in me softening.

Friends, gratitude may not fix your circumstance, but it reshapes the soul. It steadies you, lifts you head, and clears the fog. So, if you are feeling stuck in what is not right, maybe what you need is not a change in situation, but a change in perspective.