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The Most Amazing Thanksgiving Ever!

Thankful!

I think we all have a lot to be thankful for if we are willing to look. Often we can get so caught up in the struggles of life that we can’t see beyond our negative or discouraging thoughts. But Thanksgiving is a day that can help us to reflect.

Think back for a moment to what the Pilgrims had been through before their first Thanksgiving. They had escaped persecution to come to a country where they lost so many of their loved ones. They were struggling just to survive. Yet God was with them through all the trials and struggles by providing help when they needed it most.

We can often not see the help that is provided through the tough times but if we are willing to look back or even pay attention amid the trials we can see it. But too often we want to hang on to the negative instead of finding the positive. We complain about the trials and hardships and take for granted all the good that comes our way like we deserve it or it is owed to us.

Tradition

Thanksgiving seems to have become more of a tradition. And to be honest it has kind of gotten lost in Christmas. Christmas has become the moneymaker of the century so Thanksgiving, well it is just a day.  It is a day of gluttony and maybe family togetherness. But it is a day we should choose to be thankful.

For me, I have often dreaded it because there is so much work involved. But over the years I have realized less time and effort put into preparing is okay. It is really about being together with friends and family and reflecting on what we are grateful for.

Grateful

What am I the most grateful for this year? I am most grateful for the love and mercy of God. Where would we be without it? I see myself often taking His love and care for granted. And when something doesn’t go the way I want it, I question His ways.

The longer I live I realize if I would just stop and reflect I can see His hand in all of it. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Yet He loves us so much, despite our sin, that He keeps coming and wooing us to Himself. He never gives up.

When I am feeling down, discouraged, and realizing I blew it again, I am still His daughter. He is right there beside me, guiding, comforting, prompting, and loving me. Who in this life even does that? Parents are the closest thing to possibly being like God to their children. But as parents, we fail in so many ways. But God’s love never fails.

Hard to Fathom

God’s love is so hard to even fathom. Because no matter what we do He still loves us. We may crucify Him afresh every day but He is still there reaching out His love to us. He wants so bad to have a relationship with us.

Jesus gave up the majesty of Heaven to come down to a place like this. He was born in a stable with beasts of the field. He was ridiculed, bullied, tempted, and was killed but yet He never stopped loving each person. How can we even begin to thank a God with such a magnitude of love?

What God wants is our hearts. He wants to have a connection with us. A connection that is so strong that we will no longer want to do anything that will hurt Him. This is a love that only He can give to us. He provides us with the love to love Him. It is hard for my mind to even wrap around that kind of love. He will do the work in us if we allow Him in. Now that is something to be grateful for!!

Resolution

How many of us make a New Years’ resolution? Probably a lot of us have or still do. Well, this year I am making my resolution on Thanksgiving. My daughter has wanted to have a thankful jar. As we think of things to be thankful for, throughout the year, we write them on a piece of paper and put them in the jar. We did it a little one year but I want to make it more of a habit. So when we come together again next Thanksgiving we can look back over our year and reflect on what we have been grateful for. And we will see how God loves, cares, and provides for our every need.  It isn’t always easy but I am committing to start now.

Dear Father,

Forgive us for not being as thankful as we should be. Prompt our hearts each day, showing us You and what You are doing in our lives. We can be so blind and we need Your help. Thank You for being there for us every step of the way.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I encourage you to start a thankful tradition.

May you have the most amazing Thanksgiving ever!

Love you all.

Do you have a thankful tradition? If so I would love to hear about it.

 

 

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“How Can You be Grateful?”

How can you…

Have you ever wonder how can you be grateful?  There are so many things that are going on in this world of ours and even within our own lives.  So how possibly can we be grateful?  Someone just lost his or her job maybe that is you.  There are some people that have had someone very dear and near to their heart pass away.  And there are some whose physical body has given up.  There are some that are living each day with someone they hold near and dear to their heart that is not well.  And they never know from one day to the next if they will be there.  There are so many sorrows in this world that I can’t even mention all of them here.  But how is it possible to be grateful through the mist of so many depressing circumstances?

God’s lesson book

God gives us so many examples in nature.  Being grateful reminds me of my daughter’s dog.  Although the dog belongs to her he loves me the most.  I go to sit down in the living room and I get 2 dogs that run and jump on my lap and start to quarrel over who gets to sit there.  Eventually, the one ends up sitting curled around my neck on the back of the couch.  And my daughter’s dog Cuddles snuggles as close as he can get next to my lap or on my lap if I don’t have something laying on it.

Cuddles shows me many things.  He isn’t perfect but I often think that the things he does do wrong are so small compared to what we may do.  You can tell when he is sad or when he is grateful.  When he is happy it is like he has a smile on his face.  His whole countenance just glows.  If you have a pet I am sure you know what I am talking about.  He doesn’t want much except to be fed and loved.  I would say that he doesn’t sit around worrying about whether or not we are going to feed him or love him.  But I can see the sadness in his eyes when I ignore him or shove him away when I am too busy.

Cuddles knows when I am sad, angry, or happy and he cares.  He tries to comfort and calm me by trying to nuzzle me.  Or when I am happy he wants to be a part of those happenings as well. He wants to go with me everywhere I go and can often be underfoot.

When I take a shower he comes into the bathroom with me.  He loves it when I lay down my housecoat for him to lie on.  But if I forget he doesn’t complain.  He just curls up on the bare floor and is content.  I can see the sadness in his eyes when I ignore him but he still tries to stay as close as possible.  He doesn’t seem to worry when I forget to feed him, he seems as happy as always to be with me.  When I realize I forgot I feel so bad but he just seems to be grateful just to have me present.

…Thinking…

When I gave it some thought it made me think of God.  I am kind of like God to Cuddles.  He has to trust me to take care of him, feed him, and love him.  Cuddles loves me no matter what I seem to do.  He must think I love him enough to not let him starve to death or leave him out in the cold.

Of course, there is a difference between God and me.  God is perfect in every way.  He as perfect love for us.  My love for Cuddles is not perfect.  God never shoves us away because He doesn’t have time for us.  He is always there.  But even though He is always there we don’t always think He is.  Sometimes we feel that he has abandoned us.  We also feel like we are being “shoved” away by Him because of the trials that He allows to come into our lives.

We need to have the love and trust that Cuddles has for me for God.  Cuddles seems to know when he has done something that upsets me.  Do we realize the pain that we bring to our Lord when we do some of the things that we do?  And do we even care?  Every time we do things in our lives we should have so much love for God that we wouldn’t want to hurt Him.

We need to put our trust in God so fully that no matter what happens we can still be grateful.  Because we know that He loves us so much we can trust Him for the outcome.  Just like Cuddles always wants to be with me and follows me where ever I go we need to do the same with God.  The great thing with God, He will never consider us in the way or underfoot. We need to “cuddle” up as close as we can get to Him and stay connected.

Grateful

It seems as Christians we have so much to be grateful for.  I think if Cuddles could talk he would talk only about the things that he loves about me and how grateful he is for my love. The love he feels out ways any bad that may come his way.

My biggest gratefulness this Thanksgiving is God’s unlimited, unending love.  It doesn’t matter what I do He still loves me.  But He loves me so much that He doesn’t want to see me stay where I am.  He wants me to grow.  And I can trust Him to take care for me.  He is never late with answering my prayers although it may feel like it to me.  I can trust Him fully.  It may not feel like it but I can claim His promises and know by faith that He will fulfill them.

I am grateful for family.  As each year passes I realize how grateful I am for parents that love God.  And I am grateful each day that I have them.  So each Thanksgiving that comes I am so grateful to still have them with me.  My father has been a spiritual guide for me.  And I am grateful for each day that the Lord continues to sustain him.  Because each day I never know if he will still be here.  I try not to think of these things but be grateful for each day God gives me with him.

I am so grateful for friends.  Friends can bring such love and comfort through hard times.  And I am grateful for the prayers that ascend to the Father on the behalf of my family and me.  Knowing that others are praying for you is such a comfort.

I think that often we don’t look at the everyday blessings and give thanks.  We just seem to expect it.  I am grateful for every breath I take, a roof over my head, food on the table, being able to walk, see, and hear etc.  There are so many things that I could write down but I think you get the idea.  We need to make an effort toward thinking about the positive things that God has blessed us with instead of always focusing on the negative things that may happen.  God is so good.

Dear Father,

Thank You for another day of life.  I am so grateful to You for all you have done in my life.  I know that all things work together for good.  You have blessed my life with great things and I pray You will help me to focus upon those things rather than the negative things.  Thank You for nature and the lessons that You teach through it.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make sure to be grateful and not just on Thanksgiving.  Be grateful all year long.

Love you all!  And have a great Thanksgiving!

What is something that you are grateful for?  Please comment below.  Let’s see how many things we can get listed.

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“Happy Thanksgiving!”

Thanksgiving!

What is Thanksgiving?  Is it all about the food?  Filling our guts until we can’t hold anymore and sitting down in misery?  Maybe we don’t think about the misery part but when you overeat you definitely feel it and it is no fun.  But a lot of people forget and do it all over again next year.

But when I think of Thanksgiving I think about family.  I think about it being a time for the family to get together and enjoy fellowship.  And to be thanking and praising God that He has brought us through another year, taking care of us through any trial or difficulty.

When you think about the first Thanksgiving, the year had not passed without difficulties.  They had lost family members; there were major difficulties they had overcome.  But the time of Thanksgiving was to praise the Lord for what they did have and for what God had brought them through.

Memorable

I am sure you have some memorable Thanksgivings.  As I sit here and think, there is one that comes to my mind.

Our family had gone for the day to my husband’s brother’s home.  All the children were still young enough that they enjoyed going outside and playing.  One of their favorite things to play was tag in the dark.  They would try not to come in the house because they would be afraid we would be ready to leave and if they showed up we would be prompted.

One year we were visiting as adults have a great time.  Suddenly someone came in with one of my boys.  There was a definite problem.  He had been running through the dark and ran into a barbed wire fence.  The warning had been issued but there are just some children that don’t really listen or think about it.

When I saw his eye I had to praise the Lord.  Right under his eye, he had been sliced open.  If he would have hit a little higher it would have been his eye and he probably would have been blind in one eye.  We immediately took him in for stitches.  Thanksgiving day was almost over but we had the biggest praise.

Then I thought

As I have sat here thinking about this story I thought about another aspect, a spiritual one.  For those of you that know my family you would know which child this happened to.  And we can think that he just never listens or does things without thinking.  These things are very true but how many of us do the same thing.  You might be thinking, “I have never been hurt like that, maybe once in my life but not like this kid.”

I can agree physically speaking but what about spiritually.  How many times do we not listen to God and what He is trying to tell us?  Maybe we don’t even study God’s Word because we don’t want to even know.

What happens is we end up with “wounds” when we choose not to listen?  God is the only One that can “Stitch” up those “wounds” but the scare will always be there.  Every time we make a decision in life we need to consider the “wounds” we cause ourselves or others and whether it is worth it.  But most of the time we don’t even think we just do what seems right feels right, or just what we want to do.

Dear Father,

Help us to examine our lives to see where we really are.  We need You to stay close to us and not give up on us.  Give us the courage to study Your Word and listen to Your voice.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember to be thankful this year.  Surrender all to God and listen to His voice.

Love you all!

Do you have a memorable Thanksgiving?  I would love to hear your story. Share below.

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“Do I Have to be Thankful?!”

Thanksgiving

This is the week that most people focus on thankfulness.  There is so much planning that goes into that one “special” day that we “try” to focus on being thankful.  I think that mostly it has become a commercialized, have fun day.  A lot of work goes into fixing a big meal, most people overeat and go away feeling less than thankful.

What does the word Thanksgiving really mean?

1) The act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favor, especially to God.  2) An expression of thanks, especially to God.  3) A public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.  4) A day set apart for giving thanks to God.

I wonder how many of us really think about what this day is all about.

Looking back.

When the pilgrims set out from England they wanted to live somewhere they would be free to worship how they wanted.  They landed on the shores of America where they worked on building homes and finding food.  But then winter came and it was very hard.  There were many people who died.  Much more would have died but one particular Indian stepped in and helped them.  They were shown how to plant corn and other plants.  He also showed them how to identify plants that they could eat and also use as medicine.  At the end of that summer, they had enough food to make it through the winter.  They decided to celebrate.  A day of prayer and Thanksgiving was declared.  They invited their Indian friends and they feasted, played games, and celebrated.  The hardships were difficult but the blessings of God were abounding.

What about us?

When you think about your everyday life how thankful are you?  When I was thinking about the coming Thanksgiving I wonder if our focus is where it should be.  We spend a lot of time making a nice meal.  Some people spend time watching sports, others are spending time doing things with their families and/or friends, and still, others may be alone.  But where are our thoughts?  Is it just another holiday?  What can we do to make it different for us this year?  Let’s try to really make it a day of Thankfulness.

Thankfulness

I know having a thankful/grateful journal would be a good start for all of us because we need to be thankful every day, not just Thanksgiving.  Here are some things that we can be thankful for.

  1. We can be thankful to God and His Son. When I think about what They were willing to do for me it gives me a sense of thankfulness.  I like how one author puts it; “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ…especially the closing ones.”  If we could just really realize what Jesus did for us how can we not be thankful.
  2. Be thankful for the trials. This can be very difficult.  What I have found is that I need to realize everything that comes to me passes through the hands of Jesus.  He has a plan for each one of us.  He knows what areas of our lives that need refining.  It is through trials that our lives are refined for heaven.  As we grow through those trials it gives us the opportunity to uplift others when they go through things that are similar to what we have already experienced.
  3. Be thankful that you woke up today. We often take for granite that we can get out of bed in the morning.  If it were not for God keeping our heart beating we would not be here.  He continues to keep us alive.
  4. Be thankful for your safety. We are often protected each day and don’t even give recognition to God for it.  I am looking forward to heaven so that I can see all the times the Lord has protected me and I was unaware.
  5. Be thankful for family. A lot of times we take for granite our family as well.  We just expect them to always be there and that they will do certain things to make our lives a little easier.  We expect it but often don’t thank them.  We need to be more thankful for the things our families do for us and that the Lord has given them to us.

These are just a few things that we should consider; there are many more things that could be added as well.  We need to go through life with more thankfulness.  Seeing the good in every situation will help us stay focused on thankfulness and in the end, we will feel way happier.

Dear Father,

As we focus this week on being thankful, help us to see You and what You have done for us.  Thank You for Your everlasting love.  I am so grateful for Your forgiveness.  You have given me life for which I am also grateful.  Thank You for my family and the work that You are doing within my family.  Keep me focused on You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Start a thanksgiving list today to share it on Thanksgiving.  Let’s not forget the meaning of Thanksgiving.  And remember it throughout the year.

Love you all.

What are you especially thankful for this year?