A Day of Thanks

"Happy Thanksgiving!!" That is the greeting that can be heard everywhere one goes on this day. Families gather together from far and wide for fun, fellowship, and to devour vast amounts of bird. There are endless quantities of food, from pies to cakes to side-dishes, the aforementioned star of the dinner table, and then of course the football game afterwards.

Indeed, whether it is the bird or the black Friday shopping that piques your interest, it is a day that is dedicated completely and utterly to thing that matter most in the world, second only to the Lord: to family.

And not just to family, it is a day of rest to be dedicated to a certain thing that many of us (and yes, that does include me, too) often forget: Thankfulness.

It seems that often we tend to become focused on the things that maybe aren't as perfect in our lives as we would like them to be. Perhaps there are times that maybe we weren't as appreciated as perhaps we think we should have been, or maybe our team didn't win in that one football game (WAR EAGLE!!), or maybe we just don't have as many things as we want.

Sometimes we tend to forget what charmed lives we have in this nation. Even if we don't have things we have the opportunity to work for them.

And, more often than not, sometimes we (I know I do) forget the very reason that we are here, that the world was ever put into being, and man ever given the breath of life: The Lord God Almighty.

I want to challenge you and your family this day and in this coming week to look over all of the things that you have, get out a piece of paper even, and write down all of the things in your life, whether good things or bad things, on that piece of paper. And then take it out every night before bed (it will probably be a pretty big list I know, but humor me), and look it over. As you do so, thank the Lord for all of the people and things that He has blessed you with, the roof over your head, your parents, your spouse (if you have one), your friends. And pray also over the things that maybe it is hard to see as a blessing, like that pink slip you got six months ago, that friend of yours that lost his house, or that college opportunity that went caput. Pray over these things, and ask that the Lord would take them use them to be a blessing for you or that person. Maybe there is a person at work that is giving you fits. Perhaps that person is a blessing in the rough.

And when you are praying over those things, and on this day, always remember to thank the Father for the reason we are here: His son.   

God bless you!!

A servant of His,

Julia