Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been thinking about how Thanksgiving is ONE of my favorite days each year, but the truth is it is my MOST favorite holiday!!! The thing I love about Thanksgiving is that it is not about giving/getting anything. It is about gratitude. It is a time to take a fresh look at our lives and say 'WOW, life is good!'. Sure, sometimes life is not all we want it to be - there are times of disappointment but.... amazingly to me - even in the bad times of life I can see how God has preserved us and it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. It's a time to appreciate God's grace on our lives!

It's also a time to remember what we DO HAVE. This world we live in presses us to the next thing all the time. The newest, latest, greatest thing to have is ever pressing upon us with a 'you must buy me' mantra in tow. But at Thanksgiving we can look at what we DO have versus what we do not have. We can be thankful for our truly bountiful blessings. Our homes, our vehicles, our washer and dryer, our dishwasher, our refrigerator and stove and beds and on and on. Such simple things we forget to think about. Our washer and dryer is a bit dated and at times I think of what it would be like to have the front loader, but then today as I was loading the washer I thought "I'm so thankful that our washer and dryer is working well. No problems with either of them." Sure, they sound like they are working hard when in use, with all the squeaking and such but... PRAISE GOD THEY WORK!!!!

It's also a time to be thankful for the people God has brought into our lives, family and friends. Sure, we all have those difficult relationships in our lives but.... I see those people as the relationships I learn the most from. They are NOT easy and those relationships often offer me the best they know how to give me today. Maybe it is due to a bias against me or maybe they are in such pain they cannot see how they are so hard to love, or maybe there is a mutually known conflict, whatever the case... I'm not mad at what they cannot give - I'm thankful they are prospering in their lives and that is enough. I don't want to look at what they are not - I do not expect anything more than what they offer. That is enough and that is how I can manage to show thanks for even the difficult people in my life. (And yes, at times, I know that I am the problem in some difficult relationships; but until God reveals that to me I usually do not see clearly either. Until He reveals that I have to approach the difficult relationships as I mention above.)

It's a time to stop and think 'WOW God - I don't know why you blessed me but you have blessed me indeed and for that I give you THANKS!' There is no 'gimmee gimmee gimmee' it is 'thank you, thank you, thank you'. He has done great things for us!

SO HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL! I pray your Thanksgiving is a true day of rest to you and your loved ones, that you are able to taste and see that the Lord, He is good!!