November 26, 2013 - "Giving Thanks!"

Good morning to you all and Happy Thanksgiving week. I am feeling better and I appreciate your prayers! I cannot convey how excited I am to feel basically normal after three days. Praise God - now I can see people again. It's one thing to be sick and another to be isolated because you're contagious. UGH. It has been great to hear from some of you as to how your Thanksgiving meal is shaping up. I love the creative, cooking ideas from our team. You guys are amazing! I was listening Sunday to a minister who made the comment, "90% of Thanksgiving comes out of thinking." That really intrigued me and yet I found it profoundly true. A grateful heart really does flow from remembering all that God and others have done for us. While I am certain our children and families are grateful that Christmas presents are gathering under the tree (one level of gratitude), I am convinced that once opened and placed into action they become a deeper source of gratitude. See where I am going with this? However, heart-felt gratitude for long-term faithfulness is beyond the "gift-level gratitude." Right? Can you remember the day when God delivered you, healed you, walked with you during a horrific time, and spoke to you to bring comfort that you could never explain? I do! Many of us could say, "yes" to that and add, "for many years on multiple occasions." Simply saying, "thank you" for such care devotion hardly seems appropriate. Let us stop and remember this season and have that type of reflection affect our Thanksgiving for 2103. Are there people coming for your dinner on Thursday who have been faithful and stood with you when others walked away? Have you told them? Is there someone today who has encouraged you when quitting seemed an easier option? Can you stop and tell them? This is thanks...giving, or giving thanks by taking the time to recognize and validate others. Ohhhhh.....I am so smiling. Many of you have done this for me! When I couldn't write another blog or host another Life Group, you were there. When I wanted to question all the research and quit the fight for healthy choices among the nay-sayers, you encouraged me. I want to express my thanksgiving to you this season. I look forward to 2014 knowing there's a healthy, free person inside each of us and together we can help those healthy, free people remain FREE. I appreciate you! PK