"Thanks In All Things"

Thanksgiving… For me personally, the word Thanksgiving speaks to the evolution of my life. There was a day when Thanksgiving was merely a holiday break from school or a day where I could relax and have great food with friends or family. However, the word Thanksgiving now speaks to me as not just a secular holiday but an opportunity to make giving to others and giving thanks a daily event in my life. After all, kindness, thoughtfulness and consideration are all by-products of heartfelt thanksgiving. The actual day of “Thanksgiving” will serve as a reminder to me that I need to be thankful in all things… and that means every day of the year!

The challenging part of finding thankfulness in “all” things is that not all things at the time seem like something I should be giving thanks for. For example, it sounds funny to me to say Thank you God for that unexpected car problem I suffered last week. Instead, I say thank you God for providing the means and allowing me to have the opportunity to cultivate relationships with people that can help me get that pesky little car problem taken care of.

In a different vein, the holiday can be a difficult time if you are in a season of loss, sickness, financial hardship or transition in your life. When we have lost someone special in our life whether it’s due to divorce or death, the holiday season can be a painful reminder of how terrible you are feeling instead of bringing warmth, love, and excitement. The holidays are especially significant because they are familiar signs of tradition and memories. They seem to have a way of filling our memories with warm glimpses of good times shared with the people we have loved during our lives. Transitions are never easy, and there may well be days when all you want to do is hit the rewind button and put everything back to the way it was before. I have been through these difficult times and I can see it definitely involves taking little baby steps in order to adapt. I felt like the holidays would never be like I remembered them, but with a little patience, understanding and flexibility, I have learned to make the holidays hopeful again and even more wonderful than before… and for that reason alone, I am especially thankful.

I have found that successful and joyous people are usually very skilled at counting their blessings. They focus on what’s right about their life instead of what’s wrong. I'm thankful that God has given me the strength to meet the challenges that come with life. I’m thankful for each memory that my family and friends have given me. I’m thankful for having a profound understanding that it is more important to give than to receive. Theologian W.T. Purkiser said, “It is not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them is the true measure of thanksgiving. I am beyond thankful for having such wonderful and rewarding work during a time when many are not working. I am so thankful for my family, particularly my beautiful daughter, Taylor who keeps me laughing…and sometimes crying as she both spreads her wings and tests herself in this crazy world we live in. I am also so blessed and thankful for the wonderful circle of friends that make my life fun and meaningful.

This is the perfect time to pause and remember the intangibles that make this life so worth living, and to reconnect and find peace and warmth in that feeling of gratitude. For, as long as we are drawing breath, there is a genuine opportunity to GIVE…and to give THANKS!