A little Thanksgiving humor to finish out the week: “Shot my first turkey this week…Scared the crap out of everyone in the frozen food section. It was awesome.”
“Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience” 1 Corinthians 10:25 (NIV)
“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1 (ESV)
Thanksgiving seems to be a good time to reflect on what God has done for us, positive memories, blessings, and just things in general for which we’re thankful (for us U.S. folks anyhow!). When my kids were younger, I used try to find some type of Thanksgiving craft-like activity each year to do this with them.
Sometimes we’d write down things we we’re thankful for on construction paper feathers and then glue the feathers to a paper turkey. Sometimes we’d do the same thing on paper leaves and post leaves around as decoration, and we’d even made paper link chains before where each link listed an item of thanks (this encouraged them to think of more than just a few items in order to have a chain long enough to hang!). Previously, I also posted several ways to try to stay thankful like this year round.
When I teach at Glory House I do an activity with them somewhat similar to these Thanksgiving activities (even when it’s not Thanksgiving time). Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for the idea though! I think I first heard this tip from one of our pastors at church years ago. I was taught to write down 3 things that God has brought me through, brought me to or delivered me from. They could be what God has done through victories, ways God has come through for me or has been faithful to me, answered prayers, etc. I was then told to keep this list handy and reflect on it or refer back to it when I’m going through a rough time when things seem hopeless or bleak.
The ladies love when we do this activity. They also usually come up with more than three, but three things are typically pretty easy to come up with and recall. It’s just a good way to remember what God has done. It helps us to think positively and gives us the mindset “He did it before. He’ll do it again.” or “He helped me with that. He’ll help me with this too.”
I love this little guy’s take on this math problem so much! “Jaden has one dollar bill, one quarter, and two pennies. How much money does he have?”
“There will always be some in the land who are poor…” Deuteronomy 15:11a (NLT)
Everyone is into challenges these days. We see things going viral on social media because people are challenging others to do something. I recently saw something that said “gratitude challenge” where the person was challenging others to write down 3-5 things a day that they are thankful for and to do this for 30 days. She discussed some of the benefits she had personally received from this in her own life and wanted to encourage others to experience some of these same benefits. I’ve written previously about some of the benefits and ways of showing gratitude (previous posts here and here).
Gratitude has the ability to change our hearts and our outlook. Something happens when we can shift our mind off the negative things around us and intentionally focus on what we have to be thankful for. I’ve discovered that when I’m thankful, things around me seem brighter, and I focus less on what’s wrong and more on what’s good and right. Additionally, when we choose to see God’s provision, it makes it hard to be frustrated by all the ways we feel like we’re lacking something in the moment.
Thankful people tend to be happier people. Several years ago I read a good article about the benefits of gratitude. It stated that studies show that gratitude has the ability to make us healthier both physically and mentally, to enhance resiliency to stress, to increase levels of joy, pleasure and happiness, and to reap social benefits.[1] In essence, people who can stay thankful year round are happy, healthy and prosperous people!
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)
So maybe a gratitude challenge isn’t such a bad idea after all! We have to be intentional and CHOOSE to be grateful. It will take some purposeful and deliberate energy on our part. Sometimes it can be difficult, especially in the midst of hardship, to think of things to be thankful for. Therefore, here are some gratitude prompts to get you thinking about things you can be thankful for.
Lifehack: If someone knocks on your door, knock back from the inside. They’ll go away. Trust me on this. 😉
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock…” Revelation 3:20a (NIV)
My daughter and I were sitting together watching some Hallmark Christmas movies this past weekend. In the shows the subject of the authenticity of Santa Claus was brought up. My daughter is 13 now, but we’ve never actually had a conversation about if Santa Claus was real or not. Honestly, I expected her to ask the question a few years ago because that’s when she started doing the eye rolling and saying a long drawn out “Moooommm” when I’d say anything about Santa.
While we were sitting there I asked her, “Why haven’t you ever asked me about Santa? Your brother did.” She mentioned something along the lines that she knew he wasn’t real, but she like playing along. I assured her that a conversation wouldn’t change anything. Then I proceeded to tell her about my previous conversation several years ago with her brother. I remembered this post that I had written back then, and I pulled it up. Some of the similarities of then to now were pretty strange!
That conversation ALSO took place while watching Hallmark Christmas movies in early November. At that time I was in bed recovering from some vertigo. Similarly, this weekend I’ve unfortunately also been recovering—this time from COVID-19. Again, this conversation was not a very Hallmark or Pinterest worthy moment either!
I ended up reading her the post below, and we had a pretty good conversation about it. She reassured me that she didn’t feel betrayed, and she wasn’t upset (something I was apparently unduly concerned about before according to my original post). Thus, we still had a pretty good little teachable moment.
I thought you guys might like to revisit this post too! …If nothing more than for entertainment value! 😉
Well, I had the Santa conversation this past weekend. Honestly I expected it some time ago, but somehow we’ve been able to avert it. This past week I’ve been recovering from a bout of vertigo. I decided to take the weekend to just completely rest and veg out because lying down seems to help significantly. Thankfully Hallmark has already started their Christmas movie bonanza so I had that to help with the boredom. You know how I’m a sucker for Hallmark Christmas movies! 🙂
So there I was just lying there in and out of sleep, relishing my Christmas movies, when my son comes in and lays across my bed. Then the question came…
Hey Mom, are you and dad Santa?
I saw this cute high five exchange recently shared on social media. I’m amazed they were able to proceed! I don’t know how they all didn’t burst out in laughter. 🙂
“…Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 10:14b (NIV)
Today is the Presidential election in the United States. The role of President is a pretty powerful role. However, to think that one possesses all of the knowledge, wisdom and power in oneself to live and make decisions without relying on the wisdom and help of others is foolish. This is one of the reasons why the U.S. President uses a Cabinet, a special group of advisers.
Article II, Section 2 of the U. S. Constitution states that the President “may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices” (art. 2, sec. 2, cl. 1.). To build the Cabinet, the President nominates heads of federal executive departments such as Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, etc. Nominees are approved or confirmed by the Senate.
Just like it would be unwise for the President to think he needs no one, it would be foolish for us to try to do life alone. Especially when making big decisions, it’s always a good idea to consult others. Therefore, similar to the President, we too need a Cabinet of advisers. We need people in our lives that we can go to for their opinion on certain matters.
God designed us as relational beings—we were NOT meant to do life alone!
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. (Genesis 2:18 NIV)
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NLT)
Jesus was led alone to the wilderness to be tempted (Matthew 4:1). We are tempted more when alone.
When we don’t know what to do, Continue reading
Per copyright, you cannot copy the content of this page. Contact us for copy permission.