Thanks in a Different Way

The Pastor’s Page
Thank you, God, for another year.
This year, it hit me that I no longer take being alive each Thanksgiving and Christmas season like I used to. When I realized that it really was Thanksgiving, and that I was/am alive and in good health, I said a different kind of thanksgiving prayer.
So many people do not make it to “the next Thanksgiving,” and my prayer is that every day, I am in alignment with God’s will for my life so that whenever God calls, I am as ready as I can be.
Not only did we all make it to this Thanksgiving, but I am presuming that we all ate. How about the Associated Press reported that in the United States there are about 17 million families who do not have enough to eat. I doubt they had big Thanksgiving feasts.
There is so much to be thankful for.
I know that some of you are sad because you do not have much money, and that even with “Black Friday,” you will not be able to swarm through department stores and spend a lot of money. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe not having the diversion of shopping like we would like, spending money we do not have, we can pause and thank God for what really matters.
There are two young teens, one black and one white, who were set on fire by “friends.” I pray for them both and for their families, and thank God that my children are OK.
There is a little girl, Shaniya Davis, who was raped and murdered after her mother allegedly hired her out as a prostitute. She was five years old. Her family is devastated. I thank God that I have never had to experience that kind of pain.
We as a church were able to give out 100 baskets for Thanksgiving, in spite of many of us being unemployed or underemployed. You went out and bought food for others, when I am not sure all of you have enough food for yourselves. I thank God that I have that kind of church.
There are families of 13 victims who were killed at Ft. Hood, whose holy day season will be really hard this year…
All these things made me pause and think and thank God in a new a different way this year. I hope that I never waver from this place of new awareness and I pray that more of us will embrace this kind of awareness…because at the end of the day, it’s not about turkey and dressing, Christmas decorations and gifts.
It’s about acknowledging that God is good all the time …and is worthy to be praised, no matter what.