Be Thankful in All Things

It is definitely time to give thanks and to be thankful. We should always express our gratitude to God but the Thanksgiving holiday gives us a great opportunity to really pause and consider all our blessings. We have one week to give God our best thanksgiving praise. If we start today we might get a good start by Thanksgiving Day.

Just walk around your house and pay attention to all the things you have. Stuff. Collections. Antiques. Dishes. Trinkets. And what about appliances? Are you thankful for the dishwasher? The super size clothes washer and dryer? The microwave? The freezer and refrigerator combination? Years ago we didn't have our fancy electronic equipment. We had phones that we answered by picking up the receiver, connected by a curly cord. How cool was that? Better than the multi-party phone - where all your neighbors could listen to your conversation and even join in? Now we have phones that take pictures and do a thousand other things. Better than my old flip phone, I guess.

What about our beds? There are beds that cushion you, bend you, lift up your head or your feet, or even warm and cool you. Showers can give you a spa experience in whatever temperature you choose. Furnaces and air conditioners created the perfect, constant climate. Blinds and shades can be regulated to the sunrise and sunset. I can print out what I write or send it miraculously to be read by folks thousands of miles away.

Check out your car. For the first time I have a car with a heated steering wheel. Thank you for the invention catching up with the need! I remember all those cold mornings driving to work and my hands were frozen after holding on to the wheel - even with gloves on. I'm so thankful for warm spots on my steering wheel and heated seats, and just plain heat in our cars! We have defrosters built into our rear windows. Are we lucky, or what?!

This doesn't begin to cover the things inside your home that you can be thankful for; let alone outside (I'll cover that on Monday). But I hope that you won't be able to walk through your house today with out saying thank you for the things you see, touch, use, smell, hear, or feel. It all blesses us so greatly every day though we often take things for granted. Let's not do that today.

"Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus," (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 NIV).

Breathe thank you's all day long.