“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” –Henry David Thoreau
Many around the Thanksgiving table will barely take the time to enjoy the traditions of the holiday before rushing out to score the best shopping deals. Recently, we even came across a website that defines Thanksgiving as “a holiday on the fourth Thursday of November that precedes Black Friday.” Thanksgiving is about so much more than turkey and sales. It’s about thankfulness and the recognition that we are all blessed with positive things that come our way in life.
Every Thanksgiving as our family gathers to eat more than any human should in one day, we always take the time to reflect on the past year and say thanks for all the blessings in our lives. With that in mind, we give you the five things we’re most grateful for this Thanksgiving.
Today is Thanksgiving – a day for us all to remember what we are thankful for…but what about the other 364 days of the year???
Life throws challenges at us and while it is easy to give thanks when everything in our lives is going well or the way that we want it to be, it is a discipline to give thanks even throughout life’s challenges.
Overcoming difficulties, depression, anxiety, disappointment, failures and so much more is a part of our lives and by being thankful on a regular basis, you will appreciate more and live a happier and more fulfilled life.
Remember that God loves us so much that even throughout the challenges we face He is by our side and helping us through it all. If we choose to discipline our thoughts and words, to be thankful for where we are at in our lives and what is to come, then we will diminish the negative feelings, thoughts and actions and focus on our positive life experiences.
As you gather this year, possibly with close loved ones, and give thanks just recollect on the good that has happened and that is still unseen and being worked out for your future. It’s time to unleash the “Gift of Thanksgiving!”
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” (Philippians 4:8, 9 MSG)
All of us know that in the month of November we celebrate the Day of Thanksgiving…but what about the other 364 days of the year???
Do you celebrate Thanksgiving each and every day? You would if you understood the “Gift of Thanksgiving” and its power to overcome difficulties, depression, anxiety, disappointment, failures and so much more that we are faced with each day of our lives.
Giving thanks is easy when everything is good, going our way or when we get what we want. The true power and the life changing aspect of giving thanks is finding the powerful discipline to give thanks even in the midst of life’s challenges. It is not that we are giving thanks for the challenge, but instead giving thanks that God loves us so much that even in the midst of the challenges He is by our side and IS working all things together for the good.
This discipline needs to be practiced with great diligence to see it change storms into calm seas and failures into successes. The choice to discipline our thoughts and our words – to be thankful for not what is seen but rather what is hoped for – activates our faith and gives God the praise and thanks in Him rather than in the things of this world or the circumstances of our life.
So this year as you sit down and give thanks… remember to give thanks for not only the good that you see, but also that which is unseen, and being worked out, by God, for the Good! By doing this, every day, you unleash the true “Gift of Thanksgiving!”
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” (Philippians 4:8, 9 MSG)
