Sunday, November 25, 2012

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone and I can't help but think, what is it really all about?

We've been trying so hard to be more intentional about what we do and want to set a good example for the boys. Thanksgiving seems so easy. It's a given, it's a day to give thanks to God for all the good things he has given us.  But is that really what we do? And shouldn't that be more than just today? Our little family did a lot today. We played, we watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, we baked pie, we made fruit salad, we did laundry, we visited with grandparents and cousins, we ate...a lot. And we prayed and thanked God before the meal.  But we didn't make today about giving thanks.

I think keeping the focus on Thanksgiving is actually a lot harder than we think.  We get caught up in all the delicious food, spending time with family, planning our Black Friday purchases and before we know it the day is over and all we did was give a brief thanks before stuffing our faces. Yes, all of those things are great, but if we didn't do any of the today would still be Thanksgiving. Today would still be a day where we should thank God for the blessings he has given us, a day to reflect on what he has done for us. Today should not be a day unlike any other.

I don't want my children to just be thankful one day out of the year. I want it to be a way of life for them. I want the. To see God's hand at work all around them, working things together for their good, even through the pain. I want them to stop and smell the rain and thank God for providing his earth with water to help the plants grow. I want them to appreciate the hard times as well as the bad, the easy things just as much as the difficult things.

And it all begins with me. I have to have an attitude of gratitude for my children to see.  I have to see God's hand at work in my life and praise him for what He is doing. Instead of worrying about what dish I'm going to bring or whose house we're going to, I should be worrying about if I thanked God for his provision. For his grace. His mercy. His love. His salvation. Because even if I had no food to eat or no house to visit I could still be thankful for so much. Because God is still good and He is faithful. And that is more than enough.

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