Thanks-giving

    Eighteen years ago, the very first year Kristie and I were married; our car broke down on Thanksgiving.   This meant that there was no way for us to drive home from school in South Carolina to visit with family in West Virginia and Ohio.   I remember that we spent a couple of moments after we realized that we could not make the trip just looking at each other and wondering, “Ok, what do we do now?”   So, we prepared for our first Thanksgiving together, broke (as all graduate students are), with a broken down car, and no family.   In all honesty it was one of the best Thanksgivings ever.  We were so happy to be together and so happy to be starting our own little family that we even kept the receipt from the grocery store for the tiny turkey that we bought that year as a keepsake.     We learned something on that Thanksgiving:  being thankful isn’t about having what you want; it’s about wanting what you have. 

   Every year we have added to the menu of that first Thanksgiving meal, and every year we have added guests at our table.  Some are permanent like Katie, Hannah, and Josh and some are friends and family that join us from time to time.  One thing that does not change is that we spend time each November remembering to be thankful for all of the wonderful things we have. 

    People sometimes want to put limitations on their state of satisfaction with life.  They say, “I will be happy when…” but somehow “when” never seems to fully come.   Or they say, “I would be happy if I didn’t have…” but when that problem goes away another takes its place.   The author of Philippians tells us to “rejoice in the Lord always”.  He does not say “rejoice sometimes” or “when you can, you should rejoice” but tells us to live in a perpetual state of giving thanks.  Sometimes it is hard to remember that.

    All of life is a choice.  Most times we have little choice over what happens to us (like a car breaking down) but we always have a choice as to how we will choose to react to it.  We can choose to focus on the good and give thanks or we can choose to focus on the bad and become bitter.  I have yet to hear anyone ever say, “Boy, I am glad I chose to be bitter, life is so much happier this way!”   But I can tell you from personal experience that when you focus on the positive… suddenly empty bank accounts, broken down cars, and missing family members  become just enough money for a turkey, the joy of homemaking, and the creation of a new family.   Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.