Monday morning church: Thanksgiving

Originally posted Nov. 8, 2010, at Lutheran Grilled Cheese. Republished with permission of the author.

For the month of November I have begun giving thanks for something every single day on Facebook.

To keep me accountable I post it as my status update.

It can be difficult to think about all the positive things in our lives and to think of things to be thankful for. It is during this time of the year more than ever that we need to stop and think about all the things we are thankful for in our lives.

We begin our holiday run with Halloween and we don’t stop until after the new year begins.

During the holidays we surround ourselves with family and friends. We are thankful for that.

Many times in our lives it is easy to think of the negative instead of the positive.

In order to think of the things in our life that we consider blessings we should not focus on what we don’t have, but focus on what we do have. For example: “I’m thankful to have a warm place to sleep in the winter.” Or “I’m thankful to be able to see the beauty around me.”

Like I said, it can be difficult to think about the positive things in our life. So to help you here are a few suggestions:

1. Think about the special people in your life. Who makes you happy? Think about the people who have made a difference in your life. They can be family, friends or simply people that you’ve read about or seen on television.
2. Think about the people who have made life a little harder for you. It might not make sense to think about these people. But even if you have experienced some negativity there can be hidden blessings in those relationships. Think about the things you accomplished because of them. Did you finish something because they said that you couldn’t?
3. Think about the places that are special to you. On my blog, as well as other places, I have talked about how summer camp is a special place for me, especially Camp Calumet. Are there special places in your life? For example: a favorite hangout, a wooded trail, an exciting city, a great spot from which to view the sky, or a place where you just feel closer to God?

There is so much in our lives that we can be thankful for. My suggestion is to take some time every day for the next month and to give thanks for those things which God has blessed you with. It will change your perspective on your life.

Find a link to Joe McGarry’s blog Lutheran Grilled Cheese at Lutheran Blogs.