What are you thankful for this year?

By Sheryl Martin Hash, Guest Blogger

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

It’s my favorite time of the year. Summer has finally evaporated into fall. The leaves show off their beauty in brilliant hues of gold, red, and fiery orange. A chill in the air turns our thoughts to pumpkins, cozy sweaters, football games, hot chocolate, bonfires, and harvest festivals. 

It’s also a time to stop and reflect on all the things for which we are grateful. I was especially mindful of this when back-to-back hurricanes recently left thousands of people in the Southeastern United States with nothing – no homes, no belongings, no employment, no schools, no crops.

‘Thankfulness creates gratitude’

I once heard it said that it’s not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy. I believe there’s a lot of truth to that. Author Todd Stocker put it this way: “Thankfulness creates gratitude which generates contentment that causes peace.”

Several years ago, I visited the town of Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa, and watched joyful children playing tag in a dirt road. When I looked a little closer, I saw their “shoes” were actually plastic soda bottles tied to their feet with strips of cloth. They had no toys, no balls and gloves, no trampolines, no bicycles – just rocks and sticks. But these little boys and girls were happy.

We know that thanksgiving is a deliberate choice we make to remember how blessed we are. But what some people fail to realize is it isn’t a singular action. Thanksgiving is also about what we give and how we can serve others. Philanthropist W. Clement Stone said, “if you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.”

So, as we enjoy this Thanksgiving season, let’s not only thank God for our blessings, but let’s also pause with an attitude of gratitude and ask Him to show us how we can help others. Julie’s Heart Cry has a number of ways you can minister to the less fortunate. 

Around this time last year, my mother gave me a copy of this poem by Helen Steiner Rice. I believe it should be a prayer on all our lips:

Thank you, God, for Everything

Thank you, God, for everything—the big things and the small.

For “every good gift comes from God”—the Giver of them all.

And all too often we accept, without any thanks or praise,

the gifts God sends as blessings each day in many ways.

And so at this Thanksgiving time we offer up a prayer,

to thank you, God, for giving us a lot more than our share.

First, thank you for the little things that often come our way,

the things we take for granted but don’t mention when we pray.

The unexpected courtesy, the thoughtful, kindly deed,

a hand reached out to help us in the time of sudden need.

Oh, make us more aware, dear God, of little daily graces,

that come to us with “sweet surprise” from never-dreamed-of places.

Then, thank you for the miracles we are much too blind to see,

and give us new awareness of our many gifts from Thee.

And help us to remember that the key to life and living,

is to make each prayer a prayer of thanks and every day Thanksgiving.

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Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Julie’s Heart Cry ministry!