Are you thankful?  We are coming upon Thanksgiving, where we officially give thanks as a nation, but I wonder about the state of your heart today.  Are you able to be thankful?  We are told to be thankful in all things in the book of Philippians and in I Thessalonians 5:16-17.  We set aside Thanksgiving as a once a year day of thankfulness, and yet giving thanks is to be an everyday, actually every moment response.  Why is it that sometimes life hits us with all kinds of unexpected situations and sometimes we struggle to give thanks for all things?

Does this attitude of gratitude mean I am thankful if my car gets wrecked?  No, but it does mean that God can be trusted with the circumstances of the car and the wreck.  How about tough things of life such as losing a job, a home, a relationship or the death of a loved one? Give thanks? Seriously? And not just lip service to sound spiritual in these circumstances.  I do not believe that God is saying to be thankful that something awful has happened. He knows we are human, we get hurt, and we lose hope, and suffer grief. No, rather he wants us to give thanks in spite of it; that even in tough times we can find a way to be thankful.

This may be a season of grief and loss for you, but please know that you have a hope that does not disappoint. For you have a Father who understands you. He comforts the brokenhearted. He promises to never leave you or forsake you. His love is extravagant toward you. His love never fails. Your sadness may last for a time, but joy will come again.  It is a promise you can count on.  There is nothing in your life or in mine that is too big for God.

There was a time in my life when the Navy had moved us to ‘paradise’, to live in Hawaii for a tour of duty.  I was very excited to live there, but just before my husband left for sea for the first time, I had a bike accident with my youngest son, and broke my elbow and needed 27 stitches in my chin!  When my husband left the next day, I could not drive because of the broken elbow, and my sons were too young to drive, and I did not know anyone on the island.  I had some issues with thankfulness, so I saw a sign at the convenience store that a Bible Study was starting at the chapel and it was called “Issues with God” – If you have issues that you would like to address with God, join us.  So, I walked to the first Bible Study, and I told God – ok, I am discouraged; I am alone; I need to know that you are concerned with my struggles. So, can you just have someone at the Bible Study who is from Alabama? Just for me – just someone who could really understand where I am from and who shares my faith? Please, God?  I was so discouraged I did not think it was possible. So, I walked into the Bible Study, and the first person who walked up to me said, ‘Hey there, I am so glad to meet you.  My name is Jan, and I am from Sylacauga, Alabama!  At that moment, I knew that God was concerned with my issues and He always had his eye on me.  I cried tears of thankfulness at His goodness that night.

 Here are some helps for you during this season of Thanksgiving to help jump start your thanks:

Be thankful for the little things.
If you are intentional about looking, every day holds things you can be grateful for: Kindness from a stranger; courtesy and consideration in traffic; respect from a cashier in a busy story; kindness from a friend; an encouraging phone call, a story or Bible verse that you love. Look for the “Alabama friend moments.”  Because it is in those moments, thankfulness is possible.

 Be thankful for the good around you.
Too many times we only hear about the bad things going on in the world. I have determined to find the good, the inspiring story of someone’s encounter with God, a kind deed done by a stranger, a person helping another person. By concentrating on finding the good in every situation, you will discover your life will suddenly be filled with thankfulness.

Be thankful with words.
Practice saying thank you for both the happy times and the painful experiences in your life, and to the family, friends, and other people God places in your life. I like what G. K. Chesterton said, “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, and swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” Gratitude is to be a way of life – we are to cherish what we’ve been given in every single context of our lives and use our words to convey it.

Focus on what you have.
I heard a sermon last Sunday about having an attitude of gratitude, and several things really spoke to me from it.  One was that it is hard to be thankful when you focus on what you do not have, or when you have an attitude that someone owes you something, or that you deserve or are entitled to something.  Thankfulness cannot grow in that environment, but envy, jealousy, and bitterness can grow there.  When you focus on what you have and all that you have been given, it creates in you a sense of humility, which leads to gratitude.

Be thankful you are alive.
Be thankful for your life.  Many of you have heard me say that is our one and only life, so why not live it 100%; live as if today is all you have.  You have also heard me say that I wake up every morning, and I look outside, and I rejoice that I am alive; that I get the chance to live another day.  My prayer for you is this:  Be thankful for the life God has given you.  I believe He has given it to you because you are strong enough to live it.  

Happy Thanksgiving from the heart, Susie

Susie Walden, Managing Partner, Journey to Hope