Being thankful is easy when we’re surrounded by loving family at a Thanksgiving feast. It’s obvious what we have to thank God for.
But that happens maybe once a year. Not at all for some folks.
So how can we be thankful the other 364 days?
How can we be thankful about getting up at oh-dark-thirty to drive through rush-hour traffic to a job we hate? Then come home to a messy house, dirty dishes, dinner waiting to be prepared, and piles of laundry, not to mention all the bills for which we go to that hated job.
Maybe it’s time to adjust our thinking, not just on Thanksgiving but all year long:
• When we wake in the morning, let’s say, “Thank you, Lord, that I woke up this morning. Some folks didn’t, and I ask you to be with their families.”
• Thank Him that we have cars to drive and buses to ride to that hated but needed job.
• That messy house is more than some people have, so thank Him when we walk in the door for a place to call home.
• As we look at all the food choices in our refrigerators, be thankful that we have an abundance of food. Some have no idea where there next meal is coming from.
• When we turn on the faucet to wash those dishes, express thanks for indoor plumbing and a water heater. Some people walk miles for a jug of water and heat it over a fire, if at all.
• We Americans have more clothes in one closet than most folks around the world have for their entire family. Be thankful for our bounty.
• Those bills don’t pay themselves, but God gave us the ability and opportunity to work at a job for a regular paycheck.
• Even when things go wrong, we can thank Him. After my husband died, it took about a year before I could thank God for the years I had with Bryan instead of being angry about the time I didn’t have.
Gratitude is an attitude, and we are in charge of our attitudes. We decide each day to be positive, thankful, loving, and patient.
Or we can let the cynical world we live in make us complain about every little thing.
Which will you choose?
Good reminders!