Sometimes being thankful isn’t easy. I know it isn’t for me. I am often pessimistic labeling it as “realistic.” Mostly I’m like the Israelites in last week’s story who were so caught up in what they wanted that they forgot to look beyond themselves and see the wider view of what God was doing to bring his Kingdom here on earth. I often forget to be grateful that he’s walking by my side through the thick and the thin.
Being thankful gets pushed back further on the stove in light of marketing ploys bombarding my senses. We are in the hilt of consumerism, feeding our “wanter more than our needer,” as my dad used to say. With this message incessantly trying to rob us of the joy found in being thankful, it becomes harder to be such. Desires for inanimate objects, bargains, and the need to prepare for Christmas peeking around the corner, we lose sight of the present season in which we have the freedom to pause and give a shout out to God for being faithful throughout our year—even if we feel this year left us wanting.
Growing a Spirit of Thankfulness
Being grateful and thankful are not natural expressions for me. I’m quick to find what went wrong in a day, how’d I’d like to improve, or what disappointed me. We won’t go into the psychoanalysis of that, but I share that to say, I’ve had to treat thankfulness like a spiritual practice in order to retrain my brain and heart. As Christ-followers, praise and thanksgiving are part of our faith, part of spiritual growth. Thanksgiving is intended to be practiced daily as a way for us to not let life bog us down and to remember we are never alone.
Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Hebrews 13:15 (NASB)
Training our spiritual eyes to see goodness each day takes practice, attentiveness, and patience. This Thanksgiving I wanted to share some activities that helped me and my family turn our eyes to the little ways God meets us in our ordinary lives. I confess starting was like slogging out of a warm bed on a dark Saturday winter’s morning, but the results paid off in transformative ways. Hopefully at least one idea will spark your attention and move you to inch your toes out from under the covers toward practicing thankfulness this season.
Spiritual Practices to Cultivate a Thankful Heart
- Family Thankful Journal. A good friend mailed us a thankful journal one year and encouraged us to rotate it between the four of us each week. When our turn, we had to think of one thing we were grateful for each day for a week and then pass it on for a year. It’s as difficult as you are imagining but challenged us to give pause and step out of our daily grind to scour the day for moments, even if ever so tiny, in which we could thank God. (I confess, I left some days blank–it was a hard year.) Nonetheless, at the end of the year, we looked back and could see God’s handiwork, even in sadness, that made us more tenderhearted to the struggles that indeed bore fruit. It was humbling how much we took for granted. Looking back at a recorded document of thanksgiving shakes up the reality of what we think we remember. This is why the Old Testament constantly tells the Israelites to look back and remember. We forget an awful lot of the good in order to hold on to the negative. Find a blank journal and every day write one good thing that you can go back to when days get hard.
- Thankful tree or turkey. For the month of November, we put up a laminated Tom Turkey on the wall. He starts out with only a head and a body. Each night at dinner somemone gets to grab a feather and write their name and what they are thankful for. We try to stay away from the general answers and really dig deep. By the time we get to Thanksgiving Day, Tom’s feathers are in full plume displaying our gratitude. The same can be done with a tree and leaves. It’s easy to unwind after a long day with a whining session and feel worse for it, but after a thanksgiving session, the day ends a bit sweeter and less stressed. To print your own Tom Turkey, click here. For other ideas for kids, click here.
- Remembering those we’ve lost. The first weekend of November is All Saints Day in the Church calendar. Though celebrating this feast is new for me, I think the tradition is priceless. Christians have a long legacy of saints who’ve traveled along the wandering way before us. They truly are the witnesses and pilgrims who encourage us in our journey of faith. Some are of old, others have lived tangibly in our lives, all are no longer with us. When you gather around the table, share about those who’ve gone before you and planted soul seeds into your life for the bountiful formation in your faith. Being grateful for those in our lives reveals many wonders of God’s presence with us in hard and joyful times. Wondering what All Saints Day is about? Click here for an interesting article.
- Set your table. Don’t rush to Hobby Lobby and buy as many plastic gourds and turkeys you can find. My meaning is to set your table as an invitation to others. Practice hospitality and bless others. It doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving Day, but leading up to the holiday, invite wanderers, new neighbors, strangers, friends whom you haven’t spent time with lately, college students, a mom in need of rest, or someone who just needs a meal to come and break bread with you. The meal table is a place Jesus often communed deeply with others; he listened to their stories and made others feel loved. Sharing a meal is intimate and life-giving. If God can set a table in the desert, we can set one in our homes. “Practice hospitality.” Romans 12:13
- Attend to a growing grateful spirit. Attentively noticing aspects of our lives trains us to live with eyes and ears to hear. Taking a pause in whatever task, mundane as it may be, to see God’s goodness in it grows our attentiveness to God. The annual leaf dumping up north has begun and with that comes hours devoted to raking, blowing, mulching, and the picking up of leaves. No one enjoys this ritual, but if we view it attentively as a spiritual practice our perspective moves from annoyance to an opportunity to see God in his creation and be moved to praise. (This happens often in the Psalms.) Each leaf reminds me of life vibrantly arrived and deceased, yet necessary in the cycle of life. God’s creation ebbs and flows as it moves us nearer to himself–this is our legacy. My mundane may be leaves, for you, it may be going through emails, taking your kids to a sporting event, shoveling snow, or cleaning the toilet. Whatever part of your life, take a moment to step out of it and see it from a new perspective while giving thanks for the value it brings to you or others, or how it reflects God’s goodness as he touches aspects of our ordinary lives. Need help learning to use your senses to be attentive? Click here to read more about it.
I hope you can enjoy a growing spirit of thanksgiving in the days leading up to turkey, gravy, football, the Thanksgiving Parade, or dog show if you are me. Find others who can join you at the table, whether it be a wilderness season or one of bounty God is touching each moment offering us an opportunity to give praise.
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