Gratitude

This Thursday, in various ways, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. Some of us will be traveling. Some of us will gather with friends and family to enjoy turkey, all the trimmings, and maybe a piece of pie (or two). Some of us will watch football, or maybe play some football outside, or play board games inside. All of us will take at least a few moments sometime during the day to think about what makes us grateful and what we are thankful for. As Christians, we know the world is broken, and I know that some of you are going through difficult and painful seasons in your life, but we still have much for which to give thanks. God has blessed us so richly and in so many ways. We will take the opportunity to say “thank you” to the Lord for his blessings.

In the sermon yesterday I mentioned an article that appeared in Psychology Today earlier in the year about the practical benefits of gratitude. You can read it here, if you’d like to. As I said yesterday, we should be grateful because it is the proper perspective for us to have, not because it will benefit us in some way. That having been said, if God created us to be grateful to him, it should not surprise us that when we are grateful that it will have positive effects on our general well-being.

Josanne and I are grateful to all of you for giving us the opportunity to serve alongside of you. We are grateful for your love. We are so thankful for the many ways that you serve one another with the gifts God has given you. God truly continues to bless our congregation in so many ways. I was thinking about that yesterday morning as I listened to Martha and Jan play “Count Your Many Blessings.” Counting blessings can be a pretty good activity for us.

Finally, let’s not forget the many who don't have as much to be thankful for as we do. In this season, let’s say a prayer for the lonely, the hungry, the thirsty, those who are without homes, and those who are struggling even to make ends meet. Pray for the Dominican Republic and those who’ve been displaced by the flooding there. Pray for the outcome of the presidential election in Haiti. Let’s also look for opportunities to share our time, talents, and money with those who are in need of our help.

If God has placed his vision before us, he will always provide everything we need to see it through.

God bless you all this week!

Brian