I know we are all busy, but I want to encourage you to take time and make a list of all you are thankful for. Maybe you can share it during the Thanksgiving meal. Thankfulness is more than a sappy sentiment. It is something deeper we acquire. A thankful heart is a heart that knows peace and contentment, but It is something we must guard.

Let’s face it, we live in a world that thrives on discontentment. Advertisers are always trying to get us to buy the latest and the greatest. Playing on vulnerability, they plant the thought that what we now own is not good enough… It’s too slow, it no longer has that new shine, that new smell… .They hammer away at our contentment, breeding discontentment. Suddenly our thankfulness has been quenched.

But it is not just advertisers, the culture can play the same game. So we must know what we believe, nourish it and protect it. I’m challenged by this quote from John Wooden, “What are you committed to? Know who you are. Stick to your principles, make choices that are in line with your principles, and deal with the results.” With so many voices trying to influence us, I believe he is correct.

I will leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul:
“I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” Phil 4:11-13 The Message

INDEED!

Please have happy, happy Thanksgiving.

In His Great Love,
Joe