Skip to main content

Count Your Blessings: Name Them One By One


Preparations for Thanksgiving are in full swing.  I walk by cans of pumpkin pie, brown sugar and all the fixins' when I buy milk.  (Speaking of...this is the time of year I stock up on baking supplies.  Sugar and everything else is going up so now is a good time to get them!)

Orange, yellow and brown decorations are now on clearance with the Halloween decorations as Christmas crowds them all out.

But thanksgiving isn't a food or a decoration or something to buy at the store.  

In our easy come and easy go culture...do we really get thankfulness?  

When I ate canned beans growing up,  I couldn't help but think about the hard work of planting and harvesting.  

As I sit in my living room, I'm thankful for the hard work that it took to do the walls and the floors.  The time and the sacrifice the men in my life gave to make this room.

I'm thankful and humbled when I get my paycheck and it drives me to work harder to make sure that I'm earning every penny of it.

Mostly, I'm thankful for my family and friends in my life.  But as I count those blessings-I remember the hard work that it has taken and will take to maintain those close ties.

As I think about it...it seems like thankfulness is a choice to make and the depth of our thankfulness dependent on the depth of the hard work and/or sacrifice or cost.  

The sacrifice of my God.  The sacrifice of my family. 

The hard work, endurance, dedication and patient planting and sowing.  The staying.

Isn't this what Thanksgiving is all about?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Starting a Journey

September 3, 2010 Originally posted How to Begin a Journey 1. Pick a destination or simply start. 2. Plan a detailed itinerary or just take the first step. 3. Pack everything or travel lightly. I am choosing to just begin. To leave behind the baggage, pick up a day pack, and go. Several nights before we moved to Ogallala, I was praying about the transition when I heard that still, small voice of God. In that moment, I knew He heard my Heart's Cry. He hears every whispered plea, every unspoken longing. If I truly sit with that truth, it humbles me. What courage, boldness, passion, and decisiveness I have when I remember: He never leaves or forsakes me. He provides for my every need according to His riches in glory. My hope is to encourage you He hears your Heart's Cry too.

Picking up Rocks and Riding in Boats

I took a walk with a three year old young man today.   His mama was frazzled and he was bored.  "Grab your shoes," I told him.  He ran to his Mom to get his shoes on and ran to the door.  After fixing the shoestrings and the coat was on the way he wanted and I showed him the edge of the sidewalk and where we would walk...we were off. A dried piece of weed draped across an edge of the sidewalk, and I bent down to check it out.  He followed my lead and bent in half beside me.  I broke a piece off and gave him half and continued on our way.  Have you ever took a walk with a toddler?  And looked at things the way they do?  The broken sticks in the gutter, the ice and the small patch of snowing clinging to life are all gold to these little explorers.   A little encouragement is all they need to sift for treasure along the way. A smooth stone sat contentedly on the driveway of a house.  I stopped to admire...

Hurry. Time is Running Out...

Hurry.  Time is running out . 6.5 hours left of 12/10/2012. 4 days le ft until the weekend. 15 days left until Christmas.   21 day s until we fall over the fiscal cliff & financial Armageddon.   Time is running out. Time to make a difference. Time to count. Time to make moments matter. Time to make my life matter.     Time is running out. Time to tell my family that I love them. Time to breathe. Time to love. Time to heal. Time to restore. Time IS RUNNING OUT. BUT it is all the time I have. IT IS All the time I need.  Time to Praise. Time to Pray. Time to smile. Time to listen. Time to be.   Time is running out . Today I will take the time to love. Time to tell others about the hope I have in Jesus! Today I have the time t o listen to God. Time to reach.  Time to teach.  Time to lead.   Time to make a change. Time is running out. ...