Giving Thanks When You Don't Feel Thankful
It’s two weeks from Thanksgiving. For many households around the United States, Thanksgiving means turkey dinner, pumpkin pie, family reunions and football. It will often include a round of everyone sharing something that they are thankful for.
What does Thanksgiving mean for you and your family?
When we were new to this journey, Thanksgiving meant trying to figure out how to feed our son his specialty diet at the larger family get togethers, sensory overload, and missing old traditions while trying to learn enough to make new traditions.
Perhaps this is where you find yourself. When you are in this spot, it can be difficult to find things to be thankful for and you may feel disingenuous trying to muster the energy to celebrate, when all you feel is overwhelmed.
When you are struggling to find things to be thankful for in everyday life, here are five truths about God that you can praise Him for this Thanksgiving season.
God is with you. – Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me.”
He is in control.- Psalms 73:26 “My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart.”
He understands your pain. – Psalms 34:18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
You are loved – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
He has a plan - 1 Corinthians 12:18 “But as it is, God arranged all the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.”
This Thanksgiving, when you feel like you are overwhelmed and can’t take one more step forward. Pause, take a breath, and reflect on one of these truths. When you do this regularly, you will find your anxiety levels will decrease, your sense of peace will increase, and you will truly have something for which to be thankful.
Written by Jonathan McGuire
