Give Thanks...

I have waaaaaaay too much to be thankful for. And honestly, I tend not to show my gratefulness enough in life.While I think it is great that we have a national holiday to remind us to give thanks (random trivia factoid of the day: did you know that Abraham Lincoln was the one who first proclaimed Thanksgiving to be a national holiday? He called for a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise") I think all to often we forget that we should be giving praise everyday in all things.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

That even means when times get tough.. we have to keep giving thanks. That honestly is really hard. I always find it much easier to complain than give thanks... thankfulness doesn't seem to flow as naturally out of my soul. Especially when I haven't had something happen TO me... or when life is just hard and bad things are happening. I tend to get frustrated at God and wonder why. It's interesting to see how all the many wonderful and good things that God is doing in my life suddenly get pushed to the back when there is something bad going on. Perspectives get skewed and life feels bad. I sometimes have to FORCE myself in those hard times to give thanks. Make a conscious choice. It's hard. But I have found, that when I am thankful, it tends to be a very unselfish act-- and suddenly I am not so focused on me and my problems, but on others and God. BAM-- things start going back into perspective and life isn't so horrible.

We have sooo much to be thankful for in this world even down to the most basic thing as being allowed to live another day, and breathe another breath. Being able to share time with loved ones and just enjoy the simple pleasures in life-- the sunrise, the cold feel of the morning against our cheeks, a warm cup of coffee, the smile of a child. And this time of year.. the sparkling of Christmas lights (ok, for me at least).

Psalm 118:29
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

never forget that.

Thanks to all of you my dear friends. You have truly been a blessing in my life.



**Edit: For some reason this got saved as a draft instead of posting.. um, user error? So that is why it is suddenly showing up now instead... sorry if you got all confused on me-- teehee**