Simple Treasures: Thanksgiving

   We've got a whole lot to be thankful for! How often do we forget to thank God for His blessings! We get in the rut of saying, "Thank you, Lord, for this food, for our house, for our family, for your blessings (in general)", but how many times do we stop and really think about those things? Its become just a phrase, just a memorized prayer that we say at a loaded dinner table. Do you ever stop and think about those little things that so often are taken for granted? For instance, that soft pillow you slept on last night. Or that hot bath you soaked in after a long day of work. How about the shoes on your feet, or the nice clothes you wear. Most people have so many clothes that they can change into a different outfit every day for three weeks without having to do a load of laundry! We have heat in the winter and A/C in the summer...luxuries. Did you have sour cream on your last baked potato? Cheese? When was the last time you went to bed with an empty stomach...not because you were on a diet, but because there was not enough food to go around? I hate it when people say, "I don't have thing to wear", or "There's nothing to eat in this house!" REALLY! Stop and think about that. There IS food, its just not the food we want. Yes, we are spoiled with all our luxuries. You don't have to live in a mansion to enjoy luxuries. There are so many things that we don't NEED. Those are luxuries! Sour cream on a potato is a luxury. A different pair of shoes for work, for exercise, for church, for going to town...all that is a luxury.   Did you thank God for it? There are so many little things that we take for granted! How many spoons do you have in your kitchen drawer? In New Guinea, they pass around a single spoon so that each person sitting around the fire can take a bite in turn. They also share the same toothbrush, if, that is, they are are fortunate to have one in the first place.
   We are so very blessed! I'm ashamed at how many times I have not been thankful like I should. God has been so good to us! He not only gives us what we need, but many times what we want as well. What if you gave someone a gift only to have them snatch it from your hands and run greedily away with it with not a word of thanks. What if they opened it, then complained that it was not what they wanted? How would you feel? That's what we do with the Lord so many times, and yet He patiently and loving keeps those blessings coming. I can't understand it! Thanksgiving is almost gone from America. I can't stand how they go from Halloween straight into Christmas without hardly a thought of Thanksgiving. We are not a thankful people anymore.
   Don't let this holiday pass without having a truly grateful heart. And don't let it end there. We should have a spirit of thankfulness every day of our lives! You can ALWAYS find something to be thankful for! Even in the worst situations.