Oh Yeah...I Almost Forgot...It's Thanksgiving

2008...what an interesting year.

We walked through an election process. We debated and voted and eventually elected a President.

How about Wall Street? There is not a person I know whose financial picture didn't change in one way or another.

Hurricane Hannah and Hurricane Ike leveled communities and cities and people's lives.

Then there is the war in Iraq. No matter what you believe about that war, we all feel it deeply in our hearts. It's like we carry a great sadness around with us every day.

I know people...not just know them...they are friends of mine...who have suffered the loss of a job or the loss of someone they loved. They know the pain of divorce, the worry of kids gone wild, the shock of pathology reports, the fear of depleted savings accounts, or the embarrassment of a home foreclosure.

Oh yeah...I almost forgot...It's Thanksgiving.

You know, that time of the year we set aside to be thankful for our many blessings. We know we should be thankful so we try to feel thankful. But, it is hard to just feel thankful...especially after a year like 2008. What if...just what if...we tried to redefine the whole idea of blessings and thankfulness and Thanksgiving in our lives?

What if we stopped equating our blessings with our circumstances? Stop for a second...and let that sink in. Let's look through a different lens. Let's separate our blessings from the minutia that makes up our day to day living. What if we stopped defining our blessings as those things that are going well in our life? What would that mean? What would that look like?

It would mean that we would consider the real blessing in our life is that we have a God who is with us...no matter what. It would mean that we are blessed to have a God who has promised to never leave or forsake us...despite the circumstances of our lives.

It would mean that the real blessing is having a God who is chasing us...and invites us to chase him.

It would mean that we express our gratitude not in response to our circumstances...but in response to who he is. Period.

It would mean that we would have to realize that we are not entitled to anything...except for perhaps judgement.

It would mean that we express our gratitude not for our circumstances...but for God's presence in our lives.

What if this year was different?

Gratitude for God's presence alone...

That just might change everything....

Everything.

Even if your bank account is flush...your body is healthy...your family intact.

Happy Thanksgiving.