Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
--Unknown--
I have always loved Thanksgiving; I think that it is my favorite holiday. It blends together all we hold precious and dear, without all the commercialism of other holidays.
It highlights the home and family. Thanksgiving is synonymous with things that can be found in the home, like early morning fussing around the kitchen, kids, grandkids, long distance phone calls, family reunions, praying around the table, and a million calories.
It is a time of quiet reflection upon the past and an annual reminder that God has, once again, been faithful. Thanksgiving is good for our roots; it deepens them and strengthens them, and gives perspective, in spite of the challenges. Knowing that God has been faithful in the past reassures us that he will be faithful tomorrow.
Thanksgiving is beneficial to the individual. People who describe themselves as feeling grateful to others and God tend to have higher vitality and more optimism, suffer less stress, and experience fewer episodes of depression than the population as a whole. Grateful people tend to be less materialistic suffer less anxiety about status or the accumulation of possessions.
Thanksgiving turns us upward. It makes us genuinely grateful to God for His mercy, His abundance, His protection, and His smile of favor. At Thanksgiving, more than any other time, we count our blessings, and we run out of time before we exhaust the list. God is good…all the time!
The Apostle Paul wrote, "… just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness". Colossians 2:6-7
Wishing each of you a blessed Thanksgiving,
d
