Let’s Talk Turkey

This week many of us will gather on Thursday with family and friends to give thanks, share a meal and watch football.  There will be plenty of pie, kids running around and a kitchen which, no matter how big, is never large enough because everyone congregates where the fabulous aromas are coming from. As God’s children we have so much to be thankful for and yet, we can find so much to complain about.

Let’s talk turkey!

No one has a problem being thankful for a day, but what about the rest of the time? Are you truly thankful for each provision God has given you? I know there are things that I take for granted on a daily basis, but I don’t want to be that person. My heart’s desire is to be mindful of every day’s blessings.  I want to absorb every blessing and be as grateful as if it were the first time I was receiving it. I always thought I was a grateful person, until I realized how easy it is to become numb to the realization of how blessed we really are.

The other day I turned on the faucet and found myself thinking about how precious the gift of running, clean water is to people including myself. Water is so essential for our well-being and without it we would die. Clean water is healing and restoring to our body inside and out. In many countries clean water is a luxury and people walk for miles to obtain it so that they can sustain themselves and their families. I can’t imagine what it is like to wake up in the morning thirsty and hungry, and have the challenge of walking for miles just to get the water you need to drink or cook with. Yet, we complain when the water is shut off temporarily to fix a pipe, or if it gets discolored for a short time due to a water main break. Taking something for granted can quickly cause us to become ungrateful.

I’m using water as an example, but there are many things we can become ungrateful about which will eventually cause us to lose our attitude of thankfulness. How many times have you complained about the job God has provided? How many times have you complained about your home? How many times have you complained about what you don’t have versus what you do have? I wish I could say I have never been this person, but I have been.

Do you remember the first time you experienced something for which you were very grateful and felt an immense joy in what was happening? Somehow, some way, that joy wears off and we start to grumble and complain and our gratefulness turns into ungratefulness. I know there are those who say thankfulness and gratefulness are one in the same, but in my opinion they aren’t. Gratefulness is the heart felt emotion that comes with understanding the value of a gift that you have received. Thankfulness is the enduring joy of knowing how greatly you have been blessed.

“Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart.”  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Gratitude is our loving expression to God for what He has given to us! If we aren’t truly grateful our thanks mean nothing. I am truly grateful for my God who despite my weaknesses and imperfections chose to send His son on a cross to die for my sins, and I will forever be thankful for all that he has blessed me with.

This Thanksgiving I want to encourage all of you to share a heart of gratitude and give God the thanks He truly deserves. After Thanksgiving, start each day by telling God what you are truly grateful for and thank Him for the blessing.  When we start our day with praise, not knowing what the day will bring, it demonstrates our heart’s gratitude in knowing we can always be thankful!