I’ve always thought that Thanksgiving should be a daily celebration. I’m not suggesting that we need the Macy’s parade, the big feast (though that & a good college football game would be nice), or even the time off from work.
Instead, I’m thinking more along the lines of a daily discipline of taking time to reflect on the many blessings that we’ve received during the day. Some people do this in the form of a gratitude journal, and that’s something that I’ve tried to incorporate into my life this year.
I started journaling my answered prayers and my daily blessings because it reminds me of God’s faithfulness in the little stuff. His faithfulness in the big stuff is pretty easy to remember. But, it’s those little things He does daily--like answering those tiny prayers that I sometimes don’t even speak out loud or even have time to fully develop--that I want to remember. Because they add up. And because they show me that God is at work every day.
When I’m waiting on God to answer one of my big prayers, and MY deadline for Him has long since come and gone, I want to give up. I tend to think that God has entered retirement. But, I know that can’t be true because I’ve got a whole list of things that He did yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and so on.
And because I know I’m going to write down these blessings at the end of the day, I am constantly on the lookout for God at work. I don’t know that I necessarily see more than I used to see, but I definitely pay more attention and hopefully have a more thankful attitude in general.
Today, June 7, 2007, God showed me that He was at work by having new neighbors move into a house across the street that has been vacant for almost a year (and by having them mow the 2-foot-tall yard, to boot!), by giving me energy to make it through the day in spite of a late night last night, and by healing an eye inflammation that has bothered me for two days.
So, what are you thankful for today? I’d love to know how God made you smile today.
4 comments:
I love the idea of noting how God is at work in my daily life. I try to begin each day with a prayer offering my day to God. I hand over control to him and ask him to work through me that day. I do this before I even get out of bed. Sometimes I need to repeat this process several times, but it at least gets me off to a centered start.
Today I am thankful that I did not faint after having blood work drawn to the tune of EIGHT tubes of blood! My injuries from a fall are healing well. I am also thankful for a good night with the girls while Dad is working with time to blog, to boot!
K - I can't think of a better way to start the day; I'm sure it has helped you tremendously at work and at home. You sure were brave!!You'll have to email me and let me know what all that bloodwork was for and explain the fall.
Thankfulness, and compassion for those less fortunate were themes of the "children's message" at church today. After talking about the childrens' favorite places to eat--Pizza Hut, Subway, McDonald's, the pastor held up a small hand-carved bowl from Mongolia, and described to the children that many people of the world only get enough food each day to fill the 3 inch in diameter bowl. He implored the children to think about how truly fortunate we are, and how as Christians, it's our duty to help out those that aren't so fortunate. I could tell it resonated with the children.
Sometimes even when we have a tough day (or week),, we need to remind ourselves of the blessings He's given us. Thank you for that reminder.
CF - We often take so much for granted. Thanks for the great word picture to help us visualize how blessed we are to have food aplenty.
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