True Thankfulness

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

--1 Chron 16:34

Tomorrow, and through the rest of the weekend, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving in true American style. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, pies, cakes, and, in our family, baked mac-n-cheese. Our families will gather around large tables, spreading into living rooms and sofas, old-fashioned TV trays (if you can remember those,) and laugh and reminisce of past times. Shoot, some may actually give thanks to God over the meal before they eat.

I wonder, though, if we are truly thankful, or are we merely enjoying that long holiday weekend full of too much food and football? Do we ever actually stop and ponder what being thankful really is?

Some things I can honestly be thankful for, every day, not just on the fourth Thursday of November each year:

• A Savior who went to the cross to save me and pay for my sins, so I would not have to
• The God of all things who created all, including me, and loves me so much that He opened up the veil so that I can have regular communication directly with him
• Family. All of them. I am blessed with two loving parents, a brother and two sisters, a beautiful and loving wife, four children and their spouses (making that eight kids – wow,) and four grand children with another coming this next spring, in-laws that I adore, and extended cousins that I get to see far too little of.
• My church family, without whom I would not be who I am today
• My business family, the ones I count on to help me be successful in all of my professional dealings
• Sunrises and sunsets, promises anew each morning and peace in the evenings.
• The ability to share these thoughts with any who will read them.

See, there is much more to the American Thanksgiving holiday than just food and friends. We need only look around and see those who suffer without, the ones we blindly pass each day going about our business. We can, and should, be thankful in any, and all circumstances that we find ourselves. Things may have been tougher than we would have liked at some point, but so what?

Anyway . . . may God bless you and yours as you ponder what you have to be thankful for.

'Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!  For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!  Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.  Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!' -- Psalms 100:1-5