♥I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done.
Psalms 9:1 GNT
“This a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.”
Maya Angelou
Thanksgiving is this Thursday in the US. Several other countries have their version of thanksgiving, complete with their own histories, rituals, and traditional foods. Click here to read about them: https://www.thedailymeal.com/holidays/10-thanksgiving-celebrations-around-world-slideshow/slide-10.
It’s supposed to be a time for happy family gatherings, huge traditional meals, and frenetic shopping for Christmas gifts the day after. Singles sometimes dread the holidays as they anticipate the thoughtless questions that are waiting to trap them in a corner of the kitchen.
Some singles are so insecure that they enlist a cuffing season consort to accompany them to these gatherings. Other singles are either secure enough to handle the inquisitions, or their families have accepted them as they are and don’t bug them about singleness issues.
I prefer to think the spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas as a lifestyle. A lifestyle of gratitude cannot be overcome by worldly commercialism. Click To TweetMany decry the commercialization of Christmas overreaching itself by minimizing Thanksgiving. I’m not the only one who gets a bit annoyed by Christmas displays in September, just before the Halloween candy and autumn décor are put out.
I’m not overly bothered by the downplaying of Thanksgiving or the commercialization of Christmas, though. These days are not just holidays to me. I prefer to think the spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas as a lifestyle. A lifestyle of gratitude cannot be overcome by worldly commercialism.
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy,
and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
William Arthur Ward
The gratitude of Thanksgiving and the wonder of Christmas ought to permeate every day of our lives.
Every day brings us something to be grateful for. Each day contains delights for us to discover and be in awe of. And there is nothing good we have that was not given to us.
For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?
1 Corinthians 4:7 NLT
We Christian singles cannot afford to demean ourselves as reborn in the image of Christ and diminish our potential in Christ by being ungrateful and entitled.
“When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.”
Elie Wiesel
Living by gratitude makes our lives beautiful. It opens our eyes to the glory in all that God has made, including other people. It overflows our lives with grace and truth. And living by gratitude will be sure to keep us connected to the people in our lives who have impacted us for the good.
“At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude
of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
Albert Schweitzer
For instance, countless are the beautiful stories of downtrodden students who found acceptance and encouragement from a teacher. That one teacher made all the difference in the world for that student, and that one year propelled that child to finish school and achieve great things. The story becomes misty-eyed when the student comes back to express gratitude to that teacher, now elderly. Here’s a sweet story that won’t get you crying too hard: https://www.npr.org/2012/12/28/168142027/decades-later-student-finds-teacher-to-say-thank-you.
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
John F. Kennedy
Did you made it to the top of your profession? Have you thanked those who helped you get where you are today? Did you learn to accept yourself, undergo a hardship, or explore new ideas, hobbies, and careers because of your encourager? Are you now in the same field as your mentor, or were you given a new start after your last rehab or jail sentence? Thank them!
Please be sure to take time this season to track down the person who helped you and thank them, especially if it’s been a long time. They would love to hear how they impacted you. It would make their day and cause them to feel grateful to have had such a positive impact on another soul. It’s not just teachers who live to pour into others.
Thankfulness makes both your life and your soul beautiful. Click To TweetThankfulness makes both your life and your soul beautiful. Gratitude is sharing back to that person how that beauty came to us from them. Your situation may not be better, but you are better off for being grateful and gracious.
“Gratitude doesn’t change the scenery. It merely washes clean the glass you look through so you can clearly see the colors.”
Richelle E. Goodrich
“When we choose thankful prayer over wallowing in anxiety and worry, we are demonstrating an unwavering trust in God.”
Priscilla Shirer
“It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich!”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I am sure you have been the victim of someone else’s glaring ingratitude. Since you know how unpleasant an experience that was, be sure not to duplicate it for some other victim to bear.
“Be thankful. God has commanded it—for our good and for His glory. God’s command to be thankful is not the threatening demand of a tyrant. Rather, it is the invitation of a lifetime—the opportunity to draw near to Him at any moment of the day.”
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
Happy Thanksgiving, dear singles who love the Lord. May the spirit of Thanksgiving fill you in a new way and cause you to be even more grateful for the rest of your life. Grateful: it’s a beautiful way to live.
“We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.”
C.S. Lewis
