This year, I chose to keep a running list in my Notes app so that today, I could look back over November and reap the harvest of gratitude all at once. How quickly I can forget; even in a month's time. My brain seems to have a long term memory for grudges and a short term memory for gratitude. Quite the opposite of God's design.
GRATITUDE November 2015
1--thankful for house full of kids, blaring TobyMac, glow-in-the-dark toys, and a campfire.
2--thankful for giant leaf piles and friends and a 5 year old that belts out country songs with the perfect amount of twang
3--thankful for cuddles with my diva while she waited for medicine to relieve her headache
4--thankful for Awanas that gives Mama 1.5 hrs of free time (and pours Jesus into my girls)
5--thankful for meltdowns with Chick-Fil-A milkshakes
6--thankful for a Father/son band and football date
7--thankful for a 6 mile run with family on bikes and a Daddy/daughter dinner/movie date
8--thankful the girls were able to enjoy Monkey Joes with their Dad
9--thankful for Jillian's love and talent in dance
10--thankful for a counselor who trusts in the Lord and is willing to carry my hope when it's too heavy
11--thankful for Braeden's love and talent in band
12--grateful for a Mama who sends cards of love and hope that let me know she believes in me
13--grateful for the opportunities to write and blog
14--grateful for a clean house compliments of the whole family
15--thankful for a really good hair day
16--thankful for old friends who share their careers for free and for a much needed tax refund
17--grateful to spend the morning with Jillian in her middle school world
18--grateful for Awanas that gives Mama an hour and a half of quiet (yes, I have this twice!)
19--grateful to celebrate Jillian at a special STAR breakfast for outstanding students
20--thankful for the prospect of a God-given employment opportunity for Mama
21--thankful for the Sugar Plum Dance that allows Willie to make huge deposits into Jillian's love-bank
22--grateful for a incredible sermon by Pastor Dan on Thanksgiving from Psalm 100
23--grateful for the Holy Spirit who puts a guard over my mouth
24--thankful to have the funds, ideas, and time to almost have my Christmas shopping DONE!
25--grateful for unexpected employment opportunities for Willie
26--thankful for a hubby making our stuffing while I get to blog, family that includes too little girls, and extended family that is FuN and faithful.
Last Sunday, Pastor Dan delivered an incredible sermon on Thanksgiving from Psalm 100. I was challenged to "be thankful to The Person; not to His blessings". That statement was a game changer for me! I am guilty of tying my thanksgiving to my blessings; not to The Giver of those blessings. I am materialistic to the core. I live expecting God to make my life comfortable and enjoyable. Only THEN do I return thanksgiving.
As I look back over my gratitude for November, I can see material blessings, but I can also see gratitude for The Source of every good thing. The people, the moments, the opportunities; they are all gifts given by the Lord. Nothing on my list landed there by any effort of my own. Everything that passes into my life first passes through the hand of God. Therefore, my gratitude MUST be rooted in The Person of God whose heart desired to give those gifts. To be grateful for the blessings without gratitude for the Giver, takes the glory away from God and places it on my sinful flesh.
This is where Psalm 100 provides an incredible pattern for the "how's" and "why's" of thanksgiving.
How do I return thanks to the God of All? Psalm 100 verses 1, 2, and 4: loudly, with action, with music, in public, from the heart, and proclaiming His character. When my whole being praises God for Who He is, it will be all encompassing. It will become a natural response to His greatness. But I have to be intentional in my thanksgiving, because my sin nature prevents this from being my first response.
Why do I return thanks to the God of All? Psalm 100 verses 3 and 5: because God is God, because God made me, because I belong to God, because God is good, because God is merciful, and because God's truth endures. Why wouldn't I give thanks to the God who designed me, who cares intimately for me, who extends grace and mercy, and who so deeply desires to spend eternity with me that He sent Jesus to redeem me?
It's not the blessings that I must honor and give thanks for, it is God the Person Whom my gratitude must be lifted up to. The blessings He so generously gives stems from His heart, on which I am written. So from my heart, I give thanks to God for Who He is.
"God redeemed this messy Jesus-Girl."
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