Thankful

On this Thanksgiving day we have so much to be thankful for. As I sit here in my warm house with hot coffee, Christmas music from the Rat Pack playing and my children making little noises through the monitor, I think, "wow, I am so blessed." My husband is off of work for the next 4 days, and we have the food we need to take care of our family and visitors. I heard a sermon recently that reminded us Westerners that most of us have to work only 5 days a week to provide 7 days of food, and many even get paid while we're on vacation. Who's ever heard of such a thing! Well, of course, we have, and sometimes don't we feel so entitled to those things? When in actuality, this is unheard of for much of the world's population. They work each day for the food they eat that day. They don't know where tomorrow's meal will come from. And a paid vacation?! Not likely. We are truly rich! Think about that for a moment and give God thanks for your circumstances and life, for God says to "give thanks in all circumstances," not when you feel like it or when things are going just how you want them to (because let's be honest, how often does that happen!?). If we approached life that way, how self focused would we be!?

As I enter a trial season of not working at all (yes, yesterday I put an out-of-office message up on my TNTP email that said I had transitioned out of my role!), I am feeling especially thankful this morning. My amazing husband initiated this whole thing as he felt like God was leading him to make it work so that I could leave TNTP. And that's what we're going to do - be obedient to God and make it work. While we are certainly using wisdom in budgeting and spending, we also have seen over our 8 years of marriage that God has always provided - from trips to Niger to paying off our school loans within just a few years. And since finances has been an area I have held the tightest to in terms of not trusting God (despite so many unexpected blessings), I know that through this I am going to be stretched during this season. And stretching leads to growth, which is always a good thing!

My prayer for you on this day of Thanksgiving and Advent just around the corner is that you would find joy in the everyday and gratefulness for the things we often take for granted - that we are still breathing, that God has given us another day to live and love others, and that we are truly rich - rich in resources but also rich in life. Happy Thanksgiving!