Gratitude

 

Bless affectionately, gratefully praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not one of all His benefits.  Psalm 10:3:2

I stopped by a large retailer the first week in November (only days after Halloween) and to my dismay, Christmas music was already playing in regular rotation over the loudspeakers.  The past few weeks, my inbox/mailbox has been bombed with various Black Friday sales specials and some of my neighbors already have all of their Christmas decorations out. (Then again some neighbors still have their Halloween decorations out?!?)  Don't get me wrong as  certainly I enjoy Christmas and celebrating the birth of my Savior, but what about Thanksgiving?  Talk about getting the shaft! It seems to be the forgotten holiday. 

As a child, it was easy to discount Thanksgiving as a day to eat turkey and think about the pilgrims who bravely sailed across the globe to America, but as an adult, Thanksgiving has taken a whole new meaning.

In addition to eating a wonderful spread and of course, the Iron Bowl, Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate and give thanks to God for all of His many blessings.  I have been reflecting on this for several days now and when I begin to think about all that God has blessed me with, it’s hard to keep track of it all.  

It’s easy to get swept up into all of the traditions on Thanksgiving Day, but we cannot allow the activities crowd out the real purpose of the day.  Make a list of all that you are thankful for and express your special thanks to God for all He has blessed you with!