Chasing Babies... Growing in Grace: A Year-Round Spirit of Thankfulness!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

A Year-Round Spirit of Thankfulness!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner... 5 days to go in our countdown! I'm so looking forward to the opportunity to be thankful on Thursday... I've been waiting for it all year! Wait, no... that's not how it works!

How often does Thanksgiving get treated like this though? We fuss (a word that seems appropriate with an 11 month old in my home) all year long about the things we wish we had. We cultivate hearts of discontent in our children and in ourselves (that is after all what Christmas is about right??? We may visit that in another post closer to Chrsitmas.) Then, as Thanksgiving Day draws near, we focus on what really matters... the food! No wait... that's wrong too!

It's true though... we work painstakingly to get our homes spotlessly clean so the family and friends who come will think we always live that way. We plan elaborate Thanksgiving Feasts. We fight with our husbands, yell at our children, and yell out to God "why is it always like this?!?"

Then it's here... we are all sitting around the Thanksgiving table and someone says "grace". Maybe we each go around the table saying what we are most thankful for. For 5 minutes, we celebrate hearts of thankfulness to God! Then the eating and clean up begin... the naps and football games... then all the left overs... then the stress of Christmas!

What is thanksgiving really supposed to be??

Scripture is full of examples:

"I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.” Psalm 7:17

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1

“Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name. Psalm 30:4

“With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.” Psalm 54:6

“I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” Psalm 69:30

“Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” Psalm 95:2

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!” Psalm 100:4

This is just a tiny list of verses from Psalms on thanksgiving!

As believers, our whole lives should be filled with thanksgiving! What a special opportunity we have each year to really focus our minds and hearts on thankfulness to our Heavenly Father, but if we don’t continue in that spirit throughout the rest of the year, we have missed our mark!

I am as guilty at this as you may be. Not that I am not thankful throughout the year, but I loose my focus! I challenge you, with me, to focus this year on strategies to maintain our thankfulness
focus throughout this next year!

Today's the last day to visit Kelli for more Thanksgiving thoughts and fun, but I'll be continuing my countdown toward Thanksgiving! Come join me for more this week!

Labels: Life Lessons for Mommy

4 Comments:

At November 17, 2007 at 11:17 AM , Marianna said...: A wonderful reminder to focus on what is important.

Marianna
At November 17, 2007 at 9:22 PM , Mommy said...: Thank you for writing that! When I wrote yesterday about breaking the "mold" in our home when I had my favorite Thanksgiving memory, this was the type of stuff I was talking about.

When we broke the "mold" of exactly what you wrote, we had a wonderful time in the Lord. No fussing, no yelling. Lots of laughter and stories of God's faithfulness. :)
At November 19, 2007 at 6:08 AM , Anonymous said...: You are so awesome! I am so proud of you!
At November 20, 2007 at 7:50 AM , MrsMomma said...: It's easy to be swept up in all the hustle & bustle of the holidays. Thank you for your wonderful reminder!

Happy Thanks Filled Thanksgiving!
-Heather

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Chasing Babies... Growing in Grace

Saturday, November 17, 2007

A Year-Round Spirit of Thankfulness!

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