Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are enjoying plenty of time with friends and family and are stuffed full of turkey and all the trimmings (or at least will be very soon). At our home we eat our feast for lunch since the Cowboys play soon after. I have found it’s best if Super Rockstar is drugged with a little Tryptophan to sedate him — our team is having a rough year (who am I kidding? They’re ALWAYS having a rough year).
I confess I always come into this season of holidays a little reluctant. I look ahead and all I can think about is how much I have to do: decorating, shopping, cooking, baking, school activities, parties, travel–the list goes on and on. I am exhausted before anything even gets started. But, it hit me today that there is a reason we celebrate Thanksgiving first–why so many of us cling to having it set apart before the hustle and bustle of Christmas. Many of you–like me–are feeling anxious about the upcoming things, but isn’t it nice to have a day to just do nothing but be think about being thankful? I mean; yes, there’s all of the cooking and preparing of the feast, but when that’s all done, we get to just sit around and enjoy all we have– our full bellies, laughing with family and friends, watching football or movies and shows, and just hanging out and relaxing.
If you are an American–even if you are pinching every penny to get by–you are considered very wealthy by worldly standards. We are blessed. And now I get it. We need to have a day to remember how much we have to be thankful for before going into the busy holiday season. The very act of being thankful is what fills our hearts with the joy and peace we long to have for making all of the magical memories. Counting our blessings takes our focus off our problems and trials. I encourage you to take just few minutes and think about it. What are you thankful for? Make a list. Share it with others if you wish. Say thank you to the One who gave it all to you. I guarantee it will lift the weight off your shoulders, put a smile on your face, and fill your heart with that something so many of us are longing for–joy.
There will always be bad things happening in our lives as long as we breathe air on this earth. There will always be trials, tragedies, hardships and horrors to read about in the news. But, in John 16:33 it says “In this world you will have many troubles. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” On Thanksgiving we get to remember to say thank you for all we have to the One who gave it to us and then a few weeks later we get to celebrate receiving the ultimate gift He ever gave us–our Savior all wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
As you look ahead to all of the hustle and bustle that is coming, try taking a pause and counting your blessings–then, witness your heart transform to the child like anticipation of joy as we look forward to Christmas.
