I am so Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends and loved ones! Today we amp up our hearts of gratitude for the many blessings in our lives. So, let me start with: “I am so thankful for you!” God bless you and yours on this Thanksgiving Day!

I’m starting this day with gratitude! I woke up this morning! Let’s begin there. I woke up. I got out of bed. Oh, I got out of bed all on my own. I’m thankful for my bed and a good night’s sleep. I went to the restroom. Oh, I could go to the restroom all on my own, and my “plumbing” worked.

Whew! I think you can see what I mean. Hearts of gratitude START with being thankful for each detail of our lives. Of course, for “the usual” — thankful for God, family, friends, home, car, clothes…… but seriously – let’s go beyond those. Let’s put gratitude a priority in our lives!

The reality of gratitude is flipping the script on complaining about this and that. For example, a dog is barking incessantly outside our home. Complain about it OR, be grateful we can HEAR. I hear the dishwasher running. Thank God for the convenience of a dishwasher. I am typing this blog on my computer. Thank God for technology!

I am making the dressing for the turkey, the artichoke dip and cheese ball for my Austin family’s Thanksgiving meal today. Their requests! Yea! My kids have taken over the responsibility for the Thanksgiving meal! I am so thankful! And FOOD! We have plenty of food to eat!

And, tomorrow, we will all converge in Rusk, TX at Epiphany Ranch where my family will join in gratitude for each other! FAMILY – what a blessing it is!

Literally everything from the breath we breathe to the bills we pay is a celebration of thanksgiving. The bills we pay? Seriously? Oh yes, because those bills represent something to be thankful for — a car payment (we have a car); a house payment (we have a home); an electrical bill (we have a warm home).

Everywhere we look, we see things to be grateful for. And, when we live in an attitude of gratitude, rather than being bugged that the computer is too slow, we declare, “I’m so thankful for my computer”. Instead of complaining about our “old” car, we say, “I’m so thankful for a car.” Instead of saying “I have nothing to wear”, we say, “I’m so thankful for my clothes.” Instead of complaining about our boss or a co-worker, we say “I’m so grateful for my job.”

A grateful heart sees each day as a gift. Thankful people focus less on what they lack and more on the blessings they have.

May we choose gratitude as a habit that we choose daily as a way of life. May we adjust our lens and see our lives and our world through the eyes of a grateful heart. May we be overwhelmed with the beauty and abundance of it all. When we live with that kind of gratitude, we will experience Thanksgiving Day….everyday!