Thankful - For Now

All from scratch except the pickles! I have been blessed with a talented family of cooks!

Can't forget the chocolate pudding pie!

Thanksgiving, the day of the year we set aside in 1863 to be an annual day of thanks. Lincoln, who pronounced the national holiday, declared the holiday to be a day of

"Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens"

Thanksgiving was designed to be a reminder and opportunity for us to be thankful to God for what he has blessed us with. To go along with the holiday I have stopped a couple of times today to be thankful, but, today's not the only day I am thankful for the things that I have. Thanksgiving is to be a reminder, but, for the most part, it has turned into the only day we're thankful for what we have, and a consumerist dream. People go out and buy everything that they want, spend money they don't have, and act very un-thankfully towards other people. How ironic. There's another thing, are we actually being thankful, and acting upon that thankfulness? These are the thoughts running through my brain tonight.

Sadly, the day set aside for thankfulness has turned into a day of gluttony, consumerism, splurging, and indulging in our own pleasures. I myself ate a hearty meal today with family, and enjoyed conversing with Grandparents and my Great-Grandmother. I sat in a warm house, and enjoyed good clothing, worked on Physics on a nice computer that I paid cash for and own, and chatted with a friend or two about their day on a phone that, once again, I own. I have been blessed, and am grateful for these pleasures I have been given. I've thanked God for the things I have, so, therefore, I should move on and do the same next year, right?

Wrong, the day of Thanksgiving is to be a reminder, not an occasion. I have been reminded, I have been thankful, now I need to continue being thankful. Today, I'm thankful for a friend who encouraged me to start a thankfulness journal (I might have already said that in a previous blog post, but, oh well, I'm still thankful for them) for this month. Perhaps, when the end of the month rolls around, I should continue the journal. After all, sometimes, one of my favorite parts of the day is reflecting on the good things I've been blessed with, the people who have been kind to me, and then being thankful for them. It's changed my perspective (for the good, I think), and I like the perspective. With a little bit of resolve, diligence, and perhaps the encouragement of other friends who are or will be doing this with me, I should be on track for living a more grateful lifestyle.

If I'm only grateful, it changes my lifestyle, but, it's not all I can do. I need to let my gratefulness affect me more. "I'm grateful for my family." Is something I hear a lot around Thanksgiving. Does that gratefulness affect their behavior towards their family aside from the afternoon of Thanksgiving as they sit bloated next to their BFFT-ALAYDSTR (best friend for today-as long as you don't steal the remote) watching football on a $1000 TV? Not very often. I need to let my gratefulness affect the way I treat people. I need to act on my thankfulness. I've said I'm thankful for some friends today, but, does that thankfulness affect the way I treat them? I should be taking advantage of the reminder they've given me that they love me and return the love to them.

I'm going to list some of the things I'm thankful for today, and then I'm going to add below it a list of what I can do to act on that thankfulness.

1) My parents and siblings

2) The ability to learn Physics and figure out the equations.....for the most part

3) The food that was prepared for today's lunch

4) The warm house I live in

How much God has blessed me....

5) Spiritually

6) Emotionally

7) Financially

8) Physically

1) Treat them with respect

2) Share that ability with others (if they want my help)

3) Turn to God for my daily needs

4) Help with harvesting wood to make sure the furnace is kept stoked

5) Seek to learn more about God, and share the knowledge I have with others

6) Be a help to others in difficult times

7) Use my money to glorify God, and bless others when given the opportunity

8) Keep my body in good condition to glorify God, as my body is His temple

I hope this post helps you to realize how you are blessed, and that you act upon the blessings that you discover in your life.

Also, if anyone would like to join me for thankfulness journals, I'm going to ask other people to join me in the challenge to keep a journal. The goal is to write down one thing a day that you are grateful for, or a person that you appreciate. Please join in with me, and let me know if you would, as an encouragement to me.

I'm thankful for the friend who got me going on this thankfulness journal and journey. I would mention her by name, but, people don't always like that, and I should be kind since I'm grateful for her encouragement tonight.

Praying y'all had a good day with family!