Thanksgiving is a time of year that is seen as an opportunity to recognize all that we are thankful for. A season filled with traditions, festivities, and lots of food! This year our family is starting something new. We found a picture of a tree painted on a cloth portrait, and it has the word “grateful” written on the bottom. At dinner we are going to go around the table and each person is going to share what they are grateful for, and we are going to write it on the leaves of the tree. Then we will frame it and hang it up as a reminder of all the people at our table and the things we’re thankful for.
Finding this tree prompted me to think of all the things I’m thankful for daily. I’ve heard the quote before “what happens if you woke up and you are only surrounded by the things that you thanked the Lord for the day before”. I know there are some days that if I followed this quote as truth that there wouldn’t be much I’d wake up to in the morning. Thankfully those bad days don’t leave me with nothing, but rather a perspective of my need to seek the Lord more.
Seeking the Lord for a clearer perspective brought me to my knees in reflection of how the Lord rescued me through His resurrection. That resurrection power is still resurrecting who the Lord created me to be. Causing me to reflect on the wreck I was beforehand. To an outsider, and this world everything looked perfect. When I sought the Lord, I was married with a baby on the way, and working a secure/good paying job. So, from the outside things looked great, but internally there was a gaping hole that was trying to be filled with everything this world has to offer. The day I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior was when I was truly born again. Like in Psalm 40:
I was pulled out of my pit of despair, removed from the miry clay I was stuck in, and the Lord set my feet upon His solid rock. His wings of protection and words of truth established my next steps.
Being washed clean of sin, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11).
May this Thanksgiving holiday be a reminder of the many blessings the Lord bestows upon you daily. Rather than dwelling on the past or losses throughout the year, may you be lifted up knowing that the one who created everything, is constantly loving you. Transforming and renewing you to fulfill the purpose He has for you (Romans 12:2).
So, what would you write on your tree’s leaves? What is it that you’re grateful for as this holiday of Thanksgiving is upon us?
-Jessica