All in Thankfulness
Nothing gives me joy like Christmas carols—the ones about the birth of Jesus, anyway. The other ones are cute, funny, and fun to sing, but they do not touch my spirit. The ones that move me declare Jesus’ deity while coming to earth through the virgin birth. I love to sit in my living room in front of the lit Christmas tree and contemplate the true meaning of those songs, Jesus’ birth, and Christmas.
From the beginning, God has known me. He knew the parents I would be born to and the country, state, and town where I would be born. He knows everything about me!
When caught in uncomfortable and painful circumstances, it can feel like they last forever. We tend to pray, “God, if You hear me, fix the problem, fix the other person, get me out of the mess I’m in!” “Now, please.”
My life story is being rewritten by the one true God, who is, always has been, and always will be—Creator of the universe.
The Bible notes praise and thanksgiving as two separate actions used to worship God. Generally, praise focuses on adoring God’s character, while thanksgiving features things God has done.
A very wise man once referred to a young couple as “pillar people.” They had fostered five siblings for an extended time and had grieved deeply when the time ended. The wise man encouraged them to see themselves as a stable pillar God had placed within the lives of these children. The siblings would forever look back at that time of stability as a frame of reference.
His heart hurt, he was frustrated.
I asked, “What are you going to do?”
He said, “I am going to thank God anyway.”
How do you feel when someone thanks you for something you have done, especially when you have invested much of your time, money, or thought? Happy, encouraged, appreciated, noticed? What about when you don’t get the thanks you had hoped for? I feel devalued, overlooked, deflated, and sad.
Just this week, I saw a Facebook post that feeling thankful lowers your stress by 23%.
It sounded good, but I wanted to check it out.
What I found excited me.
A few months back I came to an intersection. As I looked to my right, about 100 yards down the road, a truck was spinning out of control and came to a stop just off the road. He apparently had a tire blowout. As I watched, one of his wheels came hurtling towards me, rolling and bouncing all the way. As it got closer, I eased forward a little, and it crossed the road about 15 feet behind my car.
Just this week, I saw a Facebook post that feeling thankful lowers your stress by 23%.
It sounded good, but I wanted to check it out.
What I found excited me.
Good news: My husband got a new job.
Bad news: We had to relocate from the place we had lived for twenty years.
Good news: We got our house ready and put it on the market to sell.
Bad news: Although people came to see it, no one put an offer on it.
Good news: A family did put an offer on it and we accepted it.
Bad news: The closing date got pushed out much further delaying our move.
Good news: We found a house we liked in our new location.
Bad news: Someone else beat us putting a contract on it.
Sometimes we have really hard days. Recently, both of my children had the stomach bug and I had to wash my couch multiple times. As I was sitting in my kitchen, wallowing in self-pity and folding laundry, I look up to see the verse I have on the felt board in my kitchen, “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1. It was as if the Lord was in my kitchen and said, “Hey Emily, look at this”.
