November rolled around and immediately all thoughts turned towards Thanksgiving. We all love it. It is my son’s favorite holiday even more so than Christmas. Always has been. What can I say other than, he has always loved sausage stuffing.
As November rolled around, so did the posts on gratitude. Hashtags abound with tweets on thankfulness. At first, I thought it was a lovely idea. But as the month has continued, I have found myself wondering ….. What happens the other 11 months? Are we equally as thankful?
Thankfulness comes from contentment:
- Paul stated, “I rejoice greatly in the Lord” (Philippians 4:10). It was in rejoicing in His God that he found that he was content in whatever situation he faced. Whether he was fed or hungry, living in plenty or want, he had found the secret to being thankful. He rejoiced in His Lord.
- David, a shepherd boy, acknowledged that his “cup overflows with blessings” (Psalm 23:5, NLT). He was filled with gratitude because he had discovered, “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” (Psalm 23:1, NLT).
- The writer of Hebrews exhorts us, “…be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you; I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5, NLT)
Seems that contentment and gratitude go hand in hand. One seems to fit inside the other. Maybe instead of wanting one more thing, we are to become content with what we already have. I once read and never noted the source of these words:
Contentment comes not from great wealth but from few wants.
In the middle of a month of thankfulness, Black Friday kicks in and we all scramble to hit the malls to get “our wants”. “What do you want for Christmas?”, is the question we have begun to ask.
I am all in for Christmas, don’t get me wrong. I will be buying gifts for those I love. And those gifts may include some of their needs and hopefully some of their wants, which I hope will be to their delight. But I truly hope the month of thanksgiving and gratitude carry over into the month of December.
For it is only as I remember the birth of my Savior – remembering it is in and through Him that all my needs are met – that my heart is filled with gratitude all year long.
(This is an edited repost from 2013)
Today I am joining … Testimony Tuesday and Unite and #RaRaLinkup .
I’ve never heard anyone like Thanksgiving more than Christmas. Interesting. The thought has crossed my mind, too, about wondering if we are thankful/content the rest of the year. God wants us to be thankful daily!
Yes!
I do love Thanksgiving, and every year I long to carry the renewal of gratitude into the coming months.
My gratitude journal does help with that.
Thanks, Joanne for this peaceful collection of thoughts.
Even though I’m not American we still recognise Thanksgiving in our islands. It’s so funny how we can get caught up in the holiday and the shopping but forget where true thankfulness and contentment come from. Thanks for this poignant reminder, Joanne.
Good words, Joanne! One of my sons says Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday too . . . and we don’t even have sausage stuffing! š
I’ve been one of those posting gratitude posts all month. I’ve learned to practice writing down things I’m grateful for all year round. Our family is in our third year of listing our gifts around the dinner table most evenings. For this year, we’re at almost 1700. Some days, my boys balk at us doing this, but it’s such a spirit-lifting, getting-our-eyes-off-our-wants practice, that I plan to keep doing it indefinitely. š
I hope your Thanksgiving holds much gratitude and joy!
I like how you point out the difference in focus between Thanksgiving and Christmas with one being about gratitude and the other so easily becoming focussed on our wants.
I’m in the UK so we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but the more I hear about it, the more I think we should! It makes a big difference to think of all we have to be grateful for.