Giving Thanks

"True thanksgiving means that we need to thank God for what He has done for us, and not to tell Him what we have done for Him. ~George R. Hendrick

I have a lot of things to be thankful for and the list could go on and on. Today, I am most thankful for my husband, my family, my church family, living in a free country, and the men and women who fight to keep this country free. I am especially grateful today some close friends who have offered a lot of support, prayers, and encouragement in the past few days. I am eternally thankful to God for His son, Jesus.

Having a heart filled with thanks takes some practice, but it can become extremely easy if you practice it throughout the day. It doesn't always have to be a huge thing to be thankful for, but the other day I thanked God for giving me green lights on my way to work. Would life have changed if I would have had red lights? Not likely, but it was nice to just get to work without the delays. Thank God for the sunrise, the sunset, the time in between, the rain, the snow, your safety while traveling, for food on the table, for health, for employment, for laughter, for quiet, for the ability to hear, see, touch, taste, and smell. There are things all around to give thanks for. I remember picking up a book a few years ago on 1000 reasons to be thankful/praise God. I remember I started my own list, but somewhere in the years, and a move, I don't know where that list went. I think I will start a new list today in my journal, so that I am not taking things for granted, but noticing the big things as well as the small things that are so wonderful in life. What a better way to start out Thanksgiving than to have a mindset on praise and thanks.

I was going to post a couple verses from Psalm 100 but my dad did that on his blog http://www.intothewildministries.blogspot.com so I don't want to copy him. It's a great passage to read and think about, so I encourage you to do it over this Thanksgiving time.

The LORD is my God! I will praise him and tell him how thankful I am. Tell the LORD how thankful you are, because he is kind and always merciful. ~Psalm 118:28-29

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. ~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18