Thankful Thoughts

For the past several months, I have been attending a church in the greater Goshen/Elkhart area. It's a larger church, with most likely a thousand to fifteen hundred members. Today they were in the midst of renovating their worship center. And so, without a large room to gather in, the service was instead held outside. I loved it! It was so neat to be able to look up at the expanse of sky and be caught up in the beauty of its blueness. I loved being able to contrast that color with the green of trees, met by the green carpet of grass. Though it was a bit damp to sit on (I didn't bring my lawn chair), it was an amazing experience.

Something struck me today as the pastor recapped the series on Colossians. It's struck me before, and sadly most likely will strike me again later in life, and that is the importance of being grateful.

How often do people (I, most of all) complain? How often do we wish and wait around for the next best thing? How often do we grumble over the hand we were dealt? All of these leave me with a wanting and impatient heart, one that is bitter to the taste.

The remedy? Don't wait until Thanksgiving to be thankful! We're halfway to Thanksgiving (at least that's what Tim Rowland told us all today), only six more months to go!

There is so much for me to be thankful for, from the beautiful weather that I can enjoy with all of my senses, to the amazing life I am able to live with friends and family. The mere fact that I have a job at all (though it causes me heartache at times) is reason enough to give thanks! And so I will end my day with thankful thoughts in order that I may become a little bit more the person I was created to be.