This week it’s easy to remember to offer prayers of thanksgiving and to show our gratitude. Whether we will be spending the holiday with family, with friends or even alone, giving thanks is in the air. But how do we do the rest of the year? We know there are countless blessings to be thankful for, but sometimes they get pushed down. Too often, other things are the noises that get our attention, so at times we might have to be in search of giving thanks.
I hadn’t always been good about noticing or acknowledging all that I should be grateful for. I certainly still fall short. But now, as I think I have shared before, I have found myself saying ‘Thank you, Lord’ out loud a little more often, and I’ve recognized that it makes a difference, a spiritual difference, in me. Having true gratitude nourishes our hearts and supports our spirit because God is good. To feel truly grateful, we need God. To recognize the gift within the mess, we need God. To see His hand in the gifts we receive, we need God.
It might be difficult to be grateful when things are tough and much easier (or at least tempting) to just be frustrated. But we can choose: When we face a time that’s challenging, we can dwell in that, or we can decide, even in small ways, to interrupt the mess and instead feed our hearts with a thought of gratitude. Let the beginning of this holiday season help us shift our focus to make extra room for this grace of gratitude and strengthen our spiritual health. As we know, ‘thank you’ is a prayer, and thankfulness is of God when so many things around us are not. Perhaps there is someone on your mind and in your heart you’ve been meaning to thank for something. This special time is an invitation to share the grace of gratitude with him or her and be nourished by God’s goodness.
In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thes 5:18-19)
May your Thanksgiving holiday be filled with many blessings.
Journeying to Grace 