Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Today is Canada’s celebration of Thanksgiving (and we get to commemorate Columbus Day). It is a day, like Thanksgiving in the US, to celebrate the end of harvest and to pause and think of the things for which we can be thankful. The Canadian Parliament proclaimed in 1957 that the day should be: “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October”.

Giving thanks is a familiar command in the Bible. The Psalms are full of praises and things for which the psalmist was grateful. In Philippians, thanksgiving is a command along with not worrying. In fact, gratitude is a way to let Christ take care of the worry in one’s life. Philippians 4:4-7 in the Message version says, “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up at any minute! Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life”.

I know that I am not thankful enough for what the Lord has done for me. Lately I have been discouraged or overwhelmed with school and thinking about the future. Yet God has provided for me each step of my journey so far and I know He will not abandon me now. Sometimes I can get frustrated with people at my office, and yet I know this is where God has placed me. Other times I am simply in awe of what I get to see and experience, the places I get to go and the people I get to meet. Gratitude and praise should not just be celebrated one day of the year, but should be a part of the fabric of each day, keeping God at the center and leaving the worry behind. Can you imagine how our lives would be different if this was our attitude?