Thanksgiving Reflections

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1Th 5:16-18 NLT)


Do everything you say or do in the name of the Lord Jesus. Always give thanks to God the Father through Christ. (Col 3:17 NIV)

I simply want to share some thoughts... The theme of thankfulness has been one that has been reoccurring throughout the fall.  I just though that I would share some things that I see God doing in my own life in regard to being thankful.

• First, being thankful requires practice.  

God is working in you. He wants your plans and your acts to be in keeping with his good purpose. Do everything without finding fault or arguing. (Php 2:13-14)

I know that if your family is at all like mine... complaining, arguing, and finding fault often seem to be the predominate form of communication.  There gets to be a point where we recognize this and work to be more purposeful at being encouraging and thankful.  

We have even been known to get mini compositions books where we each recorded what we were thankful for each day... then we would share them at the end of the day.

• The next thing I want to share, is that sometimes we need to let go of what we want in order to be thankful for what we have.

I have noticed that we spend a lot of time focusing on the next cell phone, computer, video game, TV, you name it..., that we often don't appreciate what we have.  Things are easy to recognize this with, but we do the same thing with the people in our lives...

We want someone who will help us around the house or yard, and we miss that they have made a favorite meal or cleaned out a closet.  We want someone to appreciate what we do, yet we fail to recognize and appreciate what they do.  As a result, we miss opportunities to be thankful.

So I hope that this Thanksgiving season and going into Christmas, that you and your family will practice the art of thankfulness.  Maybe take time to write down all the things you "want"... materially, and relationally.  Take time to hand these over to God... maybe put them in an envelope and as you seal it ask God to take these "wants" and give you eyes to see what He has given you... and be thankful!