Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday for me. I’m all about cornbread stuffing and pumpkin pie and delicious leftovers and giving thanks. And then there’s that lovely stretch of December ahead with its carol singing and eggnog and decorating and gift wrapping before we celebrate Christ’s birth. Some Thanksgivings it’s easy to have an attitude of gratitude. All is calm and bright, or mostly calm and bright. But some years…
Some of you have lost a dear loved one, are grieving a broken marriage, have a wayward family member, are alone and lonely, have moved, or are living with a diagnosis or facing surgery. Some of you are on hold or have watched a dream die or let go of a job. The list goes on and on. Struggles and heartaches comes in all shapes and sizes and no one is immune. Sometimes life snowballs and you have more on your plate than a simple Thanksgiving feast.
I think about you and what’s happening for you beyond your reading my books. Each of you have full lives with many facets, books being just a tiny part of that. Some of you have prayed for me and my family when we most needed it. I’m very thankful! I pray for you, too. Prayer does more than we ever realize and goes far beyond the limits of our imaginations.
Whatever our current struggles, they’re not eternal. Temporal but not eternal. Maybe that is the heartbeat of this verse, Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Amplified version.
Thankful, still.