This blog on thankfulness is timely because American Thanksgiving holiday is only 10 days away. Shopping lists are being made, an abundance of food is being purchased, and hopefully, families are eager to get together.

I’m grateful for the marker that Thanksgiving brings each year. It’s a reminder to be grateful, to say what your thankful for around the family dinner table, but I have started to notice that even Thanksgiving is getting swallowed up in the commercialism of Christmas.

My boys and I were driving through our neighborhood recently and noticing the Christmas decorations that were put up right after Halloween. All three of my sons were asking me why people and stores skip over Thanksgiving. 

Side note: I feel like I’m telling a story about walking to school uphill both ways in the snow when I talk about how black Friday used to be at 8am on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and now, it starts a month before. 

While we were talking about Thanksgiving being passed over, my 14-year-old son wondered aloud whether it’s because there is no way for Satan to capitalize on Thanksgiving. It’s all about being thankful, grateful, and counting our blessings. Christmas, though, he has turned into greed and selfishness—seeing videos and memes of Black Friday proves this. Total strangers are willing to have bloody fights over toys and TVs.

It’s so easy to get sucked into getting the best deals, the best presents, spoiling our kids, and overindulging in all sorts of ways. Even at Thanksgiving, we tend to overindulge by eating too much. I know much of the world doesn’t eat like Americans—first, because they don’t have the Thanksgiving holiday, and second, because going back for seconds would be unheard of in many countries where they are more concerned about where their next meal is coming from. 

Even if you don’t live in America, these ideas can still apply to you. As we prepare for the Christmas season, we can all take time to be thankful for our blessings as we look forward to celebrating our Savior’s birth.

Okay then, as Light Bearers or Believers in Jesus Christ, what should our Thanksgiving look like?

Well, Jesus didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but we did see Him celebrating the Passover. He and His disciples had the bare minimum, but they still took the time to stop and remember, to focus on God and their blessings, and to spend time together as a family. They weren’t an earthly family, but they were a family united by Jesus.

It was also during Jesus’s last supper that He demonstrated communion. He broke the bread and said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” He didn’t say how often or when we should do it, but He said to remember him when we do. I think it’s important to do it anytime we NEED to remember Jesus and how He sacrificed himself for us that we might be free from sin and death. Our church does it every week and our pastor reminds us that while it’s easy for communion to become a ritual, we need to truly pause and think on Jesus.

So then, the steps to thankfulness are to:

Stop and remember your blessingsFocus on GodAnd spend time together as a family

We can stop and remember our blessings anytime. When I feel agitated or when my boys are angry at each, we stop and say what we are thankful for. We list everything we can think of, and you can feel a shift in all of our attitudes.

What are you thankful for today? Thank the Lord out loud for your blessings, from family to friends to a home to food in your belly to His creation all around us, or even that the world is still turning- that is all Him, and there is always something to be thankful for. Stay with your thankfulness; praise God for each and every one of your blessings. You can write this list down just for yourself or you can write your blessings on pieces of paper and fill a clear jar- this is a great activity for families because many people are visual. It’s also a great conversation-starter on thankfulness with any guests you have come over!

If you are alone in this holiday season, please reach out to me at contact@mindyhite.com. As your sister in Christ, I want you to know that you matter and that we are truly never alone because we always have the Holy Spirit with us. 

Now, we have stopped and remembered are blessings, and so naturally we are moving from our first step to our second step of focusing on God. The quickest way to be thankful is to turn our eyes from our circumstances and on to the one who made us and redeemed us. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Colossians 2:6-7, talks about being rooted in the faith and abounding in thanksgiving. Those two commands go hand in hand. 

It would help us all to not miss our daily time with God. Even though we may feel busy, time with God is still our most important task. If needed, wake up 15 minutes earlier or step outside if your house is full. Find the time and space to be still before God—listening to Him, surrendering your worries, and then asking Him to fill you afresh with His love and fruits of the Spirit. We have spent many months talking about what time with God can look like. There is no formula, just make sure you are getting the time for you spiritual health and to love those around you.

Finally, step three for being thankful is to spend time with family. We don’t have any blood family where we live so we have invited over fellow believers to have a Friendsgiving with us to celebrate. My husband will also take off the whole week so we can spend quality time together as our family unit of five. And we will also Facetime with our families that are far away. 

Isaiah 12:4-5 gives us an idea of what we should look like around Thanksgiving as Light Bearers, “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known His deeds among the peoples, proclaim that His name is exalted.”

When we go around the table this year and say what we are thankful for, let’s make sure we exalt the name of our God. We should give Him credit for the good in our lives. His word tells us that every good and perfect thing comes from above. And we should share how thankful we are that he is carrying us through the hard times as well. 

A truth I have heard and observed is that thankfulness cultivates peace. If we can stay focused on thankfulness, then peace will follow. If we don’t worry too much about the turkey or the stuffing and focus on our Lord and our family, then the fruit of the Spirit can thrive in us. (Side note: our family doesn’t do turkey or stuffing; we have ham and corn bread casserole.) No matter what is on your plate, make sure that your heart is full.

What if, as Light Bearers, we took a stand? A stand to stay thankful. A stand to cultivate peace in our hearts and in our surroundings. How much could God do through us with this attitude?!

You should feel more peaceful after listing your blessings, but let’s also take a moment to clean house a bit. Let’s take time now to ask the Lord what we need to surrender to Him so that we can remain in His peace over the next two weeks. Ask Him, “Lord, what am I carrying or worried about that I need to give to you?” Sit in that question until you feel that you have surrendered everything. Then ask Him, “Lord, what do you want to give me in return?” Take time to do this now, let Him unburden you and then fill you up with a heavenly gift.

I want to you to know that I am so very thankful to you, my readers. We are learning and growing together, and I’m so very grateful for this outlet and that you read the words the Lord has put on my heart! I’m praying for you this Thanksgiving. 

Remember… You are seen. You matter. You are loved!

Mindy

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