gr(attitude)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I pray this week is one of all that is best – thankfulness for the simple blessings we have of faith, family, and friends. It also is a holiday with a strong connection to good food for which we can also give thanks 🙂

It is a bit overdone – like a dry turkey breast – but thankfulness is worth thinking about at this time of year and especially in this year. Think back – when was the last Thanksgiving that came in the midst of such a difficult time? For many of us it has been wilderness. 2020 lost its focus early on, never got it back, and we have all wandered as a result.

Even though circumstances are forcing our roaming, gratitude, I suggest, should be our response. As Christians, we are thankful for every year – even the ones that were not the easiest. If you look throughout the Old Testament, for example, you will read passages remembering when Israel was in the Wilderness. Why would you praise your most trying time?

The reason? In difficult moments, we remember and celebrate how God saw us through.

To him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.
and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.
to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever – Psalm 136:13-16

Today may be tough, but tough does not last. Teachers are sharing with me how difficult it is for kids to stay connected to school when class is online and parents are not home because they have to work. Families are not able to meet this week as we once did and it hurts. And yet, I have watched Jesus lead Christians to help. Today will not be tomorrow. We will get through this and be grateful.

For today, make gratitude your attitude – because when our hearts arrive today where they will be tomorrow we are changed for the better. The Lord will see us through and in days ahead we will give thanks.