Should be gratitude!
I love this saying. This year as I think about Thanksgiving and being grateful, my thoughts turn not to being grateful for my many blessings and how many wonderful things I have in my life. That is all nice and good.
I am grateful for my husband and for my children. I am grateful for my many family and friends who support me. I am grateful to have a nice house to live in. I am grateful to have food to feed my children. I could list on and on the many, many blessings I have in my life. Yes, I am grateful for them.
But this year, I feel a gratitude for something deeper than that. Although challenging, I feel grateful for the difficulties in life the Lord has given me to help me be a stronger person.
I feel grateful that He has equipped me with the ability to feel true empathy. This is something I could not be able to do without having experienced the pain first; I am grateful that I can help in small ways to help others through their own pain.
I know I can’t do much, but I can do something. It is hard to be grateful for the difficulties in life, but they are what make us stronger and better people.
The Lord has taught me much in my short time on this Earth so far. It honestly makes me a little nervous for the future ahead :). But I know that He can and will help me through it all, and I am grateful for that.
While we really should strive to be grateful year round, the month of November has definitely become a month when we all focus on it more than we usually do. I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a month where we increase our focus on our gratitude. Hopefully, we can carry that increase with us in upcoming months. I also love the concept of focusing on gratitude before we go into the Christmas season. I think it can help us focus less on what we want and perhaps be more willing to give to those around us.
A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues. Embrace this time of year as a time to focus on gratitude. Reevaluate and realign yourself to be on the right path to being grateful. We are all imperfect humans and we absolutely need to assess ourselves from time to time to know what we lack and improve where we can. Even if we haven’t lost ground, we can always gain more ground. There are always things to be thankful for.
You also want to be sure you are doing what you can to instill a grateful heart in your children. In this world of instant gratification on almost every front of life, it can be a challenge, but I have every confidence we can achieve this as parents if we are intentional in doing so.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving (even if you don’t celebrate it). Take the time to be grateful for all you have in your life.
