Thanksgiving Ponderings

I'm living in Canada. Tomorrow is not Thanksgiving here, but let me tell you, this US girl is still feeling the holiday pull. Quite honestly, celebrating here in the middle of October just didn't feel real. I mean, it was still warm, and, well, just too Fallish! It felt somewhat like it was kind of a pretend, make believe game. People here say the same thing about our Thanksgiving. They can't imagine celebrating it with snow on the ground and Christmas just around the corner.

Thanksgiving has always been a special season for our family. I can say quite truthfully that I looked forward to it more than Christmas in many ways. For me, it always marked the beginning of a cozy, family-centered winter, with free times scheduled around books and hot cocoa, games nights with cider and snacks, or outdoor activities such as ice-skating and family snowmobile trips. It marked the end of a busy gardening and family music schedule, and promised a little more time to breath and enjoy life. 

It's bothered me over the past few years how much Thanksgiving seems to be overlooked. Stores and yards seem to go immediately from ghoulish Halloween decor straight to a Christmas theme. Our country as a whole seems to give the same impression that Thanksgiving is a fairly insignificant blip in the middle of the week, and merely an excuse to enjoy a day off of work and a big turkey dinner.

My intent is not to make a big deal out of nothing, but it's caused me to think a lot about gratefulness over the past few weeks, and wonder if that character trait is also one that is largely overlooked. In a country abounding with more wealth than 90% of the world can even dream of, discontentment and complaining are stunningly real and everyday with most people.

I've been mulling over a quote I read a couple weeks ago, and really praying the Lord would apply it to my life.

"A thankful heart makes everything enough." 

I guess the connection between gratefulness and contentment had never hit me quite in that way before. If we're honest with ourselves, it doesn't take a lot of effort to want something different than what we have. Cultivating a spirit of discontentment  does not take a lot of work. But contentment can really be just as easy to cultivate if we start making habits of looking at life through a grateful set of eyes. Not a whole lot of thinking is needed to to discover how much we really have. 

Let's remember, that at it's root, gratefulness  stems from a trust, and surrender to God, believing that He has given us everything we need to glorify Him best. Let us take hold of this, and implement the exhortation given in Hebrews 13:15 -

"...let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."  

 You might find yourself surprised at how blessed you really are!