Practice Gratitude

How are you feeling as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday? Excited? Worried? Overwhelmed? Joyful? Perhaps you also feel grateful, though just because Thanksgiving is on the calendar does not guarantee gratitude sits naturally in your heart. How we feel on any given day or season usually depends less on the calendar and more on the circumstances of our lives and the world.

But gratitude is not only a feeling. It is also a life practice. We can decide to give thanks for life whether we feel like it or not. For example, my wife, Stephanie, keeps a gratitude journal. Whatever she may be feeling at the end of each day, she takes a few minutes to list the things that happened for which she is grateful. This practice can help turn around a tough day or remind her of the blessings she may otherwise take for granted.

The Thanksgiving holiday invites us to practice gratitude. One way to do this on Thursday is to follow the advice of Irving Berlin. In his song, “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” (made famous by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney in the movie, “White Christmas”), Berlin encourages us to focus on the blessings in our lives.

If you’re worried and you can’t sleep

Just count your blessings instead of sheep

And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings

Whatever is going on in the world or in our lives, there are always blessings. What are the blessings in your life? For what are you thankful? Perhaps it is supportive family and friends or a warm place to call home. Perhaps it is the ability to get up each morning and live a new day or a bed to rest in after a tiring day. However large or small your blessings are, Thursday is an opportunity to name them and include them in a prayer of thanks to God.

Whether you are traveling this weekend or staying home, whether you will be with family and friends or spending a quiet day on your own, I pray this holiday will be filled with blessings and reminders that you are cherished by our loving and gracious God.

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