A Different ThanksGIVING

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is focused on others and expressing how blessed we are. I was sitting here thinking of how I can put Thanksgiving in a different perspective. I looked at the word Thanksgiving and it donned on me. Hey, there are two words here: thanks and giving. Obviously, but it hit me differently…

The First Part of the Word: Thanks.

Usually that is what we associate Thanksgiving with— being thankful for what we have. Calling ourselves blessed for what God has given us on this earth. (Notice that turkey and football are not mentioned, although they are things God has given us.)

It is wonderful to have one day a year devoted to recognizing how absolutely BLESSED we are. Being thankful for the people in our lives and the things we have. Pretty straight forward.

The Second Part of the Word: Giving.

This really hit me hard. When this holiday was created they named it and for some reason they put the word “giving” in there. When I first recognized that I thought it was very interesting because we do not usually think of this holiday as a “giving” holiday. Usually that is Christmas. Maybe they just switched the order so that it will still be one word but the meaning is: give thanks. However I took these words a step further and added on to the traditional meaning of “give thanks”.

Giving is an act of worship and appreciation… to who? To God. God has given each and every one of us so much. Far more than we deserve.

For me this was an awesome reminder that I have been given so much. I have been so very blessed with the things I need and some of the things I want.

The other day my dad and I were having a heart to heart and he asked me what he could give me that would make me happy (there is more to the story but this is the part that matters). I was stumped. I honestly could not answer him. I thought and thought but I could not come up with anything that would make me happy.

It was then that I realized that my happiness didn’t come from material things but only from the one who gives it all—our Father God.

That was just a side note. If our hearts are in the right place we should be content and truly thankful for what we have and not wanting more than God has blessed us with.

Since God has blessed us, we do not need to hoard and keep all that blessing hidden safely away for no one else to partake in. We need to GIVE IT AWAY. We need to pass along what God has blessed us with to others so that they might see the power of giving and see Christ through us.

I do not know what your blessings are… but you do. They come in many forms, sometimes in the form of time, people, words, material possessions, wisdom, money, anything that is of value to you that God has given to you. Take that “thing” or “idea”, whatever it is and give part of it away. Use it to further God’s kingdom. Use it to bless someone else. This is an act of you giving thanks to God for all that He has done for you.

I love this leaf. It is a blessing and reminds me how simple yet fulfilling life is when your heart is in the right place.

#CONTROLFREAK

In His Arms

Accept it or Deny it—You Want to be in Control of Your Life

This has pretty much been my attitude towards life. I have to be in control of everything-- whether I know it or not. I have not really recognized it however, because I know other people who are super control freaks and I always considered myself “better” than them and “less” of a control freak. I always said, "Yeah, lay it all at the feet of God. Surrender it all to Him." But I still wanted to be the super star.

It was not until these past few weeks that everything in my life has been turned a bit sideways and I could not do anything to prevent it.

I Needed to Let God Take Over

We recently found out that my little sister has Type 1 Diabetes. It has been a struggle. I felt so bad for her but there was not one thing I could do to make her better. It was simply not in my power. She was in the hospital sick for a few days and I realized that the only thing I could do for her was PRAY. I had to surrender myself to the Lord and let Him handle the situation.

Giving everything to the Lord was hard at first, but I eventually found joy knowing that she was being taken care of someone who was far more capable than me.

1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (NIV)

God cares so much for us and He only wants the best for us. But He cannot do that if we still want to have our own agenda. We need to allow God to guide our path. We need to humble ourselves and be willing to be His hands and feet and let His Spirit lead us.

Pray Always

After we put God first in our life we cannot not completely step out of the picture and think that God is just going to do great things. We need to pray. Petition. Ask God to grant us our request. Ask for wisdom in a situation or just pray out of thankfulness. God has done so much for us. He wants us to pray to Him. It is one of our only ways of communication with Him. He longs for us to draw close to Him and to talk to Him as a friend.

Part of the way we are able to get rid of our control freak attitude is through prayer. Prayer is so powerful. It works in huge ways and small ones.

Just the other day my dad was working outside in his garage and sometimes it is kind of a mess. He was looking for this one tool and had been trying to find it for at least 5 minutes. He was getting frustrated and finally stopped for a moment and asked the God to show him where the tool was. Within 5 seconds my dad remembered where he put the tool and found it momentarily.

Yes, this is an example of a very small way that God answered a prayer, but God uses prayer to show His power even in small ways like He did with my dad.

Leave the Results Up to God

Regardless of what happens or what we ask God to do, we must praise Him in all situations. We must surrender ourselves and our lives to the Lord. Everything that has happened, is happening and will happen is a part of God’s plan for our life. I know it sounds cliché but it is true! Whether we want to admit it or not.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)

He uses every situation to His advantage and for His glory. We need to get off our high horses and realize that there is someone else who wants to do life with us.

Psalms 18:2, “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (NIV)

God is always there for us. We need to lay everything at His feet. He is our ROCK. He can handle all of our “stuff". He will never fail us. Never leave us.

We need to throw away our control freak self and turn our eyes to our fortress and deliverer-- our LORD JESUS CHRIST.