Giving Thankfully

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a chance to spend it with family and friends. If you're Thanksgiving festivities have been anything like mine they involved a generous amount of turkey, starches in various forms (mashed or perhaps candied with marshmallows), some things we call "salads" that few people would find in or put on an actual salad, hanging out with family that you don't get to see often enough and watching awful Detroit Lions football. Oh yeah, while being reminded to be thankful.

What if we were thankful for more than just today and instead it became an attitude we carried with us through the entire holiday season? Just taking a look at the word itself we see that it is about giving thanks, which of course makes sense because we have a ridiculous amount to be thankful for. The more I thought about this today the more I started to wonder if Thanksgiving might be a way to challenge us to give thankfully? Think about what a huge difference this could make on your perspective and mine during this time of year.

There are countless reasons why you and I can be thankful; the biggest reason is God's willingness, in his grace, to send Jesus on our behalf. Out of this deep sense of gratitude we become willing to "cheerfully" (2 Corinthians 9:7) give of ourselves because God has given so graciously to us. This is not simply about money but time, talents, service, prayer, relationships...our very selves...things that you and I can thankfully give as acts of giving thanks. Might be something to try this season and see what happens.