Giving Thanks

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

  Have  you ever stopped to think about thanks?  I mean, really think about it?  God's been working in my heart about being thankful, truly thankful.  How many times a day do I say, "Thank you," and yet not really mean anything more by it than acknowledging that someone has done something for me, most often something that it was their job to do. ( The cashier at the store hands me my change, I smile, say, " thank you," and go on my merry way. )  But how thankful am I, really, on the inside, where it counts?  How often do I say, "thank you," and really mean, "you did your job satisfactorily, common courtesy  obligates me to acknowledge your efforts"?  

  Even when it comes to my prayers of thanksgiving, am I really thankful?  How often are my thanks to God just words, because the Bible says I'm supposed to be thankful?  Is my heart thankful, or am I saying "thank you" to mask a heart of discontent?  So often I say prayers and words of thanks, while in my heart I'm complaining about all the things I don't have, or the things they didn't do.  

  More and more I am realizing that discontent is more than just being discontent, it's a lack of being thankful.  When I am truly thankful for all that I do have, I will cease to be discontent because of what I don't have.  When I find myself complaining and discontent, if I stop and think about something I am thankful for, my discontent will vanish, my complaining will cease, the true rejoicing will start, and the prayers of thanksgiving, real thanksgiving, will soar heavenward.  And it won't stop with me, my thankful spirit will begin to rub off on those around me as His joy ripples ever outward to the world around me.

   Oh, Lord, make me truly grateful!

Auntumn

  It seems I've been thinking and writing a lot about change lately.  I guess that's because life is all about change.  Without change, there would be no life.  Without change, the caterpillar would never become the butterfly, Winter would never become Spring, the greens of Summer would never become the rich golds and crimsons and browns of Fall.

  Sometimes we want change, even long for it, other times we fear it.  We fear change because change means things will be different, no longer known.  We long for change because we dislike what is and wish for something we think will be better.
  Today, I am thinking of the changes that have been occurring in my heart.  Specifically, the change of being willing to accept the lack of change in my life.  There are many things I would wish to be different, but they remain the same.  Foremost in my mind is the often painful fact that I am still single.  I am learning to accept this fact, while still trusting that my Father will one day change it.  Sometimes accepting the lack of change can be harder than accepting the changes.  
  The changes in my heart take place as I learn to look to Him for all that I need.  He alone is able to give the love that I long for.  He alone will love me without fail.  He alone will be faithful completely and never disappoint me and leave me wondering what happened to love.  He alone will truly never leave me.
  Sometimes I wonder why it is that I feel like I need more than what He is giving me.  Isn't He supposed to be all that I need?  I don't know the answer to this question.  I can only trust Him, trusting that if I needed the answer, He would give it to me, clinging ever closer to Him.