Since the Thanksgiving holiday falls between Halloween and Christmas, sometimes I think it gets lost in the shuffle of “trick or treat” and “Black Friday”. I saw a poster the other day that read “Only in America do we take the day after being thankful for all of our blessings to knock someone out to get more stuff” – obviously referring to Black Friday shopping!
I have been guilty of finding costumes for my kids, decorating for fall and going trick or treating and then as soon as we put the costumes away, directly start working toward Christmas shopping and making lists and planning my Christmas decorations. I love Christmas time.
BUT………let’s not lose that ONE day in between that is such a powerful day. It’s a day when we gather with family and friends. It’s a day of relaxation. It’s a day of football and feel-good stories on television. It’s a day to celebrate all that God has given to us and for all the many blessings we overlook sometimes all year long.
I started practicing this art of being thankful on the way to work the other day and it was awesome. I usually pray on my way to work but this particular day I decided to pray by only thanking God instead of asking for things. It took me about 20 minutes to get to work and by the time I was there I had such a grateful heart and a peace and relaxation. I wasn’t asking God for more things………I was thanking Him. As I started out with this thankful prayer, I wasn’t sure I had enough to be thankful for as I drove the 20 minutes but I arrived at work wishing I had a few more minutes!!
Try it today. While driving or cleaning your house or scooping snow or mowing grass……..take the time during that activity and just thank God for “stuff”. When you can’t sleep, instead of counting sheep, count blessings.
You will be amazed at how many blessings you have. And then you will realize you don’t want to lose that very precious day between Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving is a very special day that God has given us to remind us to reflect on our blessings.
And besides that, blessings are a lot easier to clean up after than sheep!!! Happy Counting!
