Happy Thanksgiving!

You may or may not be surrounded by loved ones. If your not, I hope you know how much you are loved. God sees you when you feel invisible.

Throughout the year,  life happens. So much happens. We start a new job, quit a job, get a new car or the car dies on us, travel, eat, sleep, etc.

So many good things happen and yet we can still feel unfulfilled.  We can still feel ungrateful and unhappy because such and such hasn’t happened yet or we still don’t have the new iPhone, even though we have an iPhone.

Why is it only around Thanksgiving that I feel the need to be more grateful? Why not year round?

What if we didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving? Would we ever take the time to be thankful?

The truth is that we have so much to be thankful for.

As an American, I’ve become so spoiled. I have so many things and yet I still want more…why not just be grateful for what I do have?

In 1620, when the Pilgrims fled their homes to a New World, a new life, they didn’t look back. That first winter in America, half of them died. The half that survived continued on. They were thankful for a place of religious freedom. We can never truly imagine what that first winter was like.

We have so many modern conveniences and yet we still find things to complain about.

“this cheese isn’t dairy-free”

“my car doesn’t get good mpg”

“I had to walk an extra block to get to my appointment” 

What if we try looking at the positives more often?

Sure, that cheese isn’t dairy-free, but at least you have the option of having dairy-free cheese and most likely the next store you try will have what you are looking for.

Yeah, your car may not get good mpg or you had to walk an extra block, but at least you have a car that runs and you have legs that work.

Sorry, if that sounds a little harsh, but sometimes we need a punch that hits home.

Forget about all the things that could be easy to complain about.

Why not spend Thanksgiving and the rest of the year with an attitude of gratitude?

If you would like to be more intentional about being grateful, grab a notebook and try to daily record things that you are thankful for.

Try to be creative with it – instead of “I’m thankful for friends” how about “I’m thankful for friends that get me/ have an understanding heart” or instead of “I’m thankful to lend a helping hand” maybe “I’m thankful for the strength to hold the door open for strangers”.

Everyone around us, including ourselves, will be so much happier and better off by obtaining an attitude of gratitude.

God has blessed us with more than we could possibly imagine. We truly have so much to be thankful for.

What are you grateful for?

Ps 100

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. ² Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. ³ Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. ⁵ For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”