Thanksgiving - Remembering with Gratefulness

People who influence people the most are those who always show thankfulness!

Thanksgiving time brings warm memories of family gatherings, of the aroma of turkey and its trimmings being prepared, of favorite foods and pies and the joy of spending a few special hours with family again! The rush and busyness of everyday living has robbed many people of their gratitude for blessings we have been privileged to enjoy in our great country of America! Let's remember with gratfulness!

If you counted your blessings and wrote them out, how many could you list on paper? At this time of the year, it is good to remember to thank God again for our beloved land of the free; --for God's protection, provision and guidance during the last ten months, --for our abundance of everything we have need of, for the comforts and conveniences of life such as our home, our telecommumications, medical facilities, and our military personnel serving overseas in order to protect our country, just to name a few.

On the other side of the coin, the Mission Fields of the world tell us that life is very different from our homes, and not without problems and yet they express gratefulness for what they do have. Nations rise and fall and other nations are changing focus in many directions all the time. Missionaries see these factors but they are working hard to bring in their harvest before the winds of change develop into storms that could change the face of missions. They are more concerned about the people God sent them to and they are grateful for the call of God to bring the gospel to them. One missionary wrote:

.....If you own a Bible, you are blessed. More than one-third of the world's population does not even have access to one. In some countries one page is all a national pastor has until he can exchange his page with another pastor.

.....If you awoke this morning with more health than illness, you are blessed. One million people will not survive this week.

.....If you have never experienced war, imprisonment, torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are more fortunate that 500 million people who live with these on a daily basis.

.....If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and money in your pocket, you are richer than 75 percent of the world.

We should daily ask ourselves some questions to measure our gratefulness:

1. Do we talk daily about our blessings or more about our disappointments?
2. Do we complain or grumble about our circumstances,or do we see God working through them?
3. Are we content with life or dissatisfied and always wanting more?
4. How often do we thank others for the little things they do for us, or do we take them for granted and seldom say "Thank you!"
5. Do others say I am a thankful person, or are they silent about that subject? We tell on ourselves by the things we say and the things we do.

As we share thanksgiving dinner with family and friends this Thanksgiving Day, let's take time to express our gratefulness to God who has "...blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3.) Let's pray for our missionaries serving far from home this year and those on assignment to raise more support to fulfill the vision God gave them, --for the families who are missing a family member because he/she is serving in Iraq, --for those in your church or next door who are not well and would appreciate a dinner plate from your home and perhaps those who have been alienated or estranged from their own family and long to return. This Thanksgiving time, let's recall our blessings again with gratefulness and express that gratefulness verbally to our heavenly Father, then to those who shared Thanksgiving dinner with us!

You can become a strong influence in the lives of other Christians when you express gratefulness to them often for their small or great contribution in your life! You can make a difference!