Food. Clean water. A safe place to live. Religious freedom. An amazing husband. Three beautiful, healthy daughters. A career I love. Good health. Amazing extended family. A good, good Heavenly Father. Grace. Salvation. A comfortable bed. A dependable car. A comfortable home. Good friends.

The list of things I have to be thankful for could go on and on. From big to small, I have so many reasons to be thankful. And I am. So very, very thankful. I think, for the most part, I live my life in a place of thankfulness. And yet, I saw this quote the other day – ‘What if you only woke up tomorrow with the things you thanked God for today?’ and a twinge of conviction pierced my heart. I am thankful. I live thankful, but if I only had what I consciously thanked God for on a daily basis, my life – my blessings – would be sparse.

Today is Thanksgiving. It’s a day that all across the nation, people are pausing to be thankful…at least that’s the idea, right? Amidst the cooking, the overeating, the football, the family, the shopping – pushing, shoving, beating other people to get the best deal.

The pilgrims started this holiday to celebrate having enough. Now, we celebrate having more than enough.

Somewhere, amidst our national day of thanksgiving, we have forsaken a spirit of thankfulness for a spirit of gluttony. Nevermind the dozens of toys that fill our children’s rooms – we’ll fight the crowds to get yet another. Nevermind the warm blankets that fill the linen closet, we’ll jump into a bin of bedding to make sure we get a Frozen bedspread, rip plastic off wrapped displays to be the first to get a Tupperware set, or trample over an old lady just to be the first to get a laptop.

Not that Black Friday (which has creeped over onto Thursday…) shopping is bad – I don’t mean to say that. I just hope that before we race to get more, we spend a few intentional moments being thankful for what we already have, and not just today, but every day.

Even when life isn’t perfect, even when there’s room for improvement, there are people who would give everything to have what we have. There are people who are begging God for the very things we forget to thank Him for.

Tonight, I’m taking time to be thankful. I hope you will too. And tomorrow – or later tonight – when the stores open and sales are revealed, remember to be kind – we are already truly blessed, whether or not we get the best deals.