Well, this week starts the madness. It seems like once Thanksgiving week begins…life gets just a little crazy until the end of the year. Of course, if you go by what you see in area stores, Thanksgiving has been completely forgotten and Christmas decorations have been out since August.
I think that it is so important for us to be intentional in making sure we don’t just rush through Thanksgiving to get to Christmas. I happen to believe that if we take time to really count our blessings now, we just might have a different perspective for Christmas. When we realize what is really important in life and contemplate on how much we have been blessed, I’m guessing that it will be easier to focus on the birth of our Savior.
I’m not naïve enough though, to think that everyone finds it easy to recognize his or her blessings. There may be some of you who have had so much pain in your past, so much heartache, that this week only reminds you of what you don’t have instead of what you do have. Your spouse may have decided that he or she didn’t want to be married anymore. You may have lost a loved one, which left a hole in your heart and an empty chair at your table, and words just can’t describe how you feel. Your child may have chosen a path that is against everything you believe in and the pain you feel has left you drained. Your job, which you thought would always be secure, was taken out from under you and it has left you wondering how the bills will get paid. And in an instant, your health begins to fail, and it is all you can do to face another day.
You don’t need me to tell you that our plans are often thrown out the window and our journey takes a sharp detour which makes no sense. Unfortunately, life happens, and we can’t always control what is going on around us.
So, what do we do when the pain from our past keeps us from moving forward and being able to count our blessings? I saw a quote from C.S. Lewis and I loved the analogy, “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” There comes a time and a place where we must let go of those things which have entrapped us. Until we loosen our grip, we will just be left hanging and there will be no way for us to dwell on what we DO have instead of what we DON’T have.
If you find yourself struggling today as you begin your week, I’d like to make a suggestion. Find time today to write down at least 2 things you are thankful for and then tomorrow and Wednesday do the same thing. By the time Thursday rolls around, you will begin your day of thanksgiving with at least six blessings to focus on as you go throughout your day. When your past begins to overshadow you again, take out this list and read it out loud. Read it over and over until it is ingrained in your mind.
If even this assignment seems to be more than you can handle…take time to write down what you DON’T have. Let me give you some examples of what I mean, by sharing some of the things that I don’t have:
I don’t have cancer
I don’t have a broken marriage
I don’t have to worry that I won’t have anything to eat at my next meal
I don’t have to live on the street in the cold in a cardboard box….
Understand what I mean? Sometimes when we start listing what we DON’T have…we can begin to realize the blessings that we DO have.
I think you will find that with each blessing you write down or with each “don’t” that you record, your grip on the past will start to loosen. With each entry, you will begin to find it easier to move to the next “rung” and you will start making forward progress. Your past will no longer have such a tight hold on you.
I would be amiss today if I didn’t let you know that one of my largest blessings is YOU. YOU have blessed me over and over again by your encouragement and support of my writing and without YOU, my life wouldn’t be as full and rich as it is. So today I want to make sure and thank YOU for taking the time to read my posts each week, for your words and notes of encouragement, for sharing my writing with your friends and for your acceptance of me even if you don’t agree with everything that I share. I have been truly blessed and I’m thanking the Lord today for YOU!
“Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.”
Philippians 1:3
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