What are you Thankful For?

            I was thinking about this past weekend and Thanksgiving and given that when I have a choice to write or study for calculus I choose to write, so here are my thoughts. The idea of thanksgiving was not unique to the Pilgrims, Paul wrote about it quite often in several of his letters to the early church. “Praise and Thanksgiving” appears a lot throughout his many letters, but what exactly does that mean?

            Am I to only thank God when good things happen, or am I supposed to thank Him for the bad things too? Think about it, what were you thankful for this year? I realize I am asking more questions than usual, but this is an issue that must be thought out and pondered. When I was on my retreat I realized, for the first time in too long, that I have a lot to be thankful for. Sure, I may have had it rough at times when I was growing up but there are so many blessings that I ignore whether by my greed or my anger.

            I often write about “almost losing one of the most important things in my life.” It was a traumatic experience, but I seem to have ignored the word “almost.” I “almost” lost something that I hold dear. Almost, as in I did not lose it. Almost, as in God blessed me more than He ever could by directly intervening and saving that one thing. In my anger and sadness I forgot what God did in my life; I forgot that I witnessed a true miracle and testament to His greatness.

            Are you in a similar situation? Are you so blinded by anger and what you do not have, that you forget the blessings in your life? If so, I will pray for you and I hope that you will pray for me as well. God is good, and while we may not understand our suffering one thing we can understand is the hope that God gives. God always comes through, He proved that to me at a time that I really needed it. I’ve gone through a rough time, but God has brought me out and shown me His love and given me joy. Once again I can go out into the word and share God’s love, because it takes accepting God’s love to be able to share it.

            I encourage you to take a look at your life, and try to see past the bad. I dare you to count the ways God has blessed you because when you really take a good, long look you will be surprised.