Thanksgiving 2017 – a Season for Gratitude

On Thanksgiving Prep Day

Bible with Thanksgiving Feast

Finding a reason for gratitude during Thanksgiving 2017

I like to call today Thanksgiving prep day. Tomorrow is the actual holiday, but as I prepare for tomorrow with baking, cleaning – all that stuff we women tend to do, I am thankful.

Thanksgiving should never be one day a year though. In reality, thanksgiving comes from a heart attitude. And like happiness, we choose giving thanks. Sometimes, life stinks and finding a reason for gratitude comes hard.

This year in particular, I don’t have to look so hard. Is life perfect for me? No. Too little money and too many bills. I have unplanned bills from having a stroke in August with added expenses from hypertension and diabetes diagnosis, and subsequent multiple doctor bills and medications. Nevertheless, I find myself full of thanksgiving. I can think. I can function. I have no physical ailments, except tiredness when I think too hard. My brain doesn’t work like it did before. Yet I am alive and healthier than I’ve been in a long time. Rather than dwell on the negative, I choose to look at what is good in my life. And that helps me with feeling thankful.

Consider the Original Holiday

When the Pilgrims came to America, they arrived to harsh conditions. Many of them lost family and friends. Yet they craved freedom, and at the end of the first year, they looked back. In spite of severe circumstances, they lived. They had each other and new friends. They learned to survive in the new normal of their lives. Most importantly, they understood thanksgiving at a new level because they got to freely express their gratitude to God in the way they wanted – or not if they chose to do so.

I like to think those early pioneers chose to show gratitude even in sorrow and the frustration of not-so-inhabitable place they found themselves. We can learn a lot from history.

I for one choose to celebrate Thanksgiving 2017 with a heart of gratitude, thankful for all the good in my life. I will do my best to ignore the less-than-perfect part of my life. And whatever the rest of this year brings, I will rejoice that I am complete and healed to the extent God wants me healed. The rest – He is working out day-by-day.

Happy Thanksgiving! And may each of you find a reason to feel thankful today and every day of the year.

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