Thanksgiving is here. As exciting as it can be, shopping for dinner rolls
or cans of cranberry sauce, rushing around decorating and going someplace to
celebrate the plenty with which God has blessed this generation, I am going to
assume that many of you feel you do not have much to be thankful for. Perhaps
there are not many or even any incredibly wowing events in your life at the
moment. Perhaps it is quite the opposite, that there is many a hardship which
you are struggling through presently, many a person whose relationship with you
seems irreparable. Perhaps there has been death or sickness, or other suffering
in your life which puts that empty hollow in your chest, so that you feel you
do not have the happiness you believe you should on such a holiday. Well, I
hope to remedy this abject thinking. I am not going to give a long lecture on
the pilgrims and their hardships and their thankfulness on the providence of
God, although this is a wonderful fact of history to be reminded of. I want to
explain the title of this chapter and how it applies to tomorrow. Read on.
Almost exactly a year ago when I began taking some portrait sessions for
others, I came up with a slogan, if you will, for my photography: treasure the little things. I suppose I
have not actually begun to use it yet on Alabaster Rose Photography (my
Facebook page), but I say it often anyway, because aside from photography, I
have short proverbs or mottos I like to quote to myself and others, more of
which I shall probably blog about soon enough, but this one seemed best fitting
at present. As said before, in this life there oft seems to be very little to
be thankful for. Now I make a practice to never allow myself to ask God why
things are not better than they are. Instead, I thank Him for the little
things. Believe me, when you really think about it, you have so much to thank
Him for.
Every single day when I wake up, I thank God for the day.
It is so simple, but life itself is an incredible blessing which we do
not deserve! I could go on for pages and pages about God’s grace to everyone in
allowing us to live even though we are all sinners and deserve death! It is
part of His ‘common grace’, the grace given to both those who are Saved by
faith in Christ Jesus, and to those who have never heard His name or worse,
outright refused Him. Life is a precious gift that everyone takes for granted.
I thank God for every single meal I eat.
I have only ever gone hungry a very few times in my entire life. Not
everyone can say that. In fact, there are millions of people in the world who
can probably say that they have only ever had their stomachs filled a very few times in their life!
Some perhaps have never even had an entire meal before. I get to wake up every
day and have the problem of deciding what
I want to eat. This is a gift from God. May I never dare to forget such a
gift! On Thanksgiving especially I always think about the turkey, the cranberry
sauce, and all of the staples of the season which are really privileges and blessings,
not requirements, and one which many others certainly do not have the means to
enjoy as we do. This is another subject I could go on talking about for hours,
as it is one that breaks my heart; the idea of starving children compared with
we who are rich – for we who have funds enough to purchase pleasures on top of
our daily needs certainly are very, very rich – gorging ourselves on more food
than our stomachs need because of the tradition of celebrating plenty. It is
barbaric. It is heartbreaking. I thank the Lord for my plenty, and I pray for
the poor over nearly every bite, and give when I can so that they may be
filled. (James 2:15-16, Luke 6:31)
I thank God for my family.
Obviously not everyone has family. Who might they celebrate with on
Thanksgiving? Might they celebrate at all? I have family. In fact, there is not
one close member of my family – not one grandparent, not one cousin, not one
brother or sister or parent who has died in my life. The great-grandparents
whom I was too young to know have died. Distant relations and friends of
friends have died. Many, many pets have died. In fact, the closest creatures to
me who have ever died, human or animal, have been my cats. I cannot know this
heartbreak, though I know that I shall have my share of it one day. This
presence of all of the people whom I love in my life is a most rare and
precious gift. Better still, though not all Saved, I do not have any family
members with whom I do not get along. And I will thank the Lord even should
these relationships crumble. I will thank the Lord even when I lose to death
the people closest to me. He is sovereign, and I will thank him for the time I
have had getting-along with and loving my family.
I thank God for books, I thank Him for knitting, I thank Him for blankets,
for tea, for paper, my house, my own bedroom, for my last living and very dear
cat, for lamps, candles, pens, my laptop, writing, memories, thick socks, the
biting cold weather, my leaf collection, my moss necklace from one of my best
and dearest friends, flowering plants, the piano, pumpkin pie, dry and moist
skin, chocolate milk, the Hobbit movies and book, long and short car trips,
singing, walking, sleeping, our cozy sofas, recipes, long nights, long
mornings, long in-betweens, for babysitting, for all of my dear friends, and
yes, even for my bright pink bedroom walls.
The point is, when it comes down to it, we have much to be thankful for.
Count your blessings this season; remember how much God has given to you. And treasure
the little things.
