Part of my calling as SuperMom is to be sure that my children have loads of good memories. Holidays are super handy for this purpose. I realized a while ago, though, that holidays have so much more potential than one single day of memory stock piling. That is why our holidays are month long events, not single days that come and go in a flash. With that in mind, let’s chat about Thanksgiving.
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Thanksgiving has been around much, much longer than the presidential appointed day in November. The first mention that I can find of the word thanksgiving in the Bible is in Leviticus 7:12 in relation to peace offerings. I am certainly not a scholar of Levitical law, but in reading the portion I am struck by the words “sacrifice of thanksgiving”. A sacrifice is something that must be slain, given up, surrendered. I think of Philippians 4:6 and 7 -
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“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
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When things are difficult and concerning, usually the last thing I want to do is pray with thanksgiving. Begging and pleading for things to go my way is more my style. But the Scripture tells me to pray with thanksgiving and so I strive to sacrifice my natural feelings. When I do that, the benefit is a peace that surpasses all understanding and guards my heart and mind. Sacrificing my fleshly desire to control and be comfortable brings blessing. Sacrifice is hard, but worth it.
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As November unfolds, do not wait until November 25 to celebrate Thanksgiving. Start today. Begin to offer your own sacrifices of thanksgiving as situations arise in which you see no purpose. Remember, ALL things are known to the Lord and He will use everything to grow us up in Him. Do not reject the hard. Do not resent the difficult and painful. Embrace it with a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Trust that the One who knows all has a greater purpose beyond what you can see and understand.
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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
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I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me. I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. Psalm 69: 29-31
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Prayer:
Father, I want to be a thankful person. I want to be thankful for more than food and a home. I want to be thankful for difficult people who help me grow in love and patience; thankful for hard circumstances that cause me to work through fear and doubt and grow my faith. I determine to make a willing sacrifice of thanksgiving in my life, trusting that You will bring peace and blessing in my obedience. Amen.
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Challenge:
Take a real 30 day challenge! Stop over to Revive Our Hearts challenge page and sign up for the 30 day Gratitude Challenge. (PDF)
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Extended Challenges for the Month:
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Make a list of everything in your life that you are NOT feeling thankful for right now – finances, job, being home all the time with little people, your husband’s sloppiness, the broken toilet seat, the musty basement, the whiny friend, the nosey neighbor, the music at church – nothing is off limits. Next to each unthankful-for item make an opposite thankful response. (You will have to use your imagination until you really do find your thankful spot!) Spend time each day making a sacrifice of thanksgiving in these areas. I.e. your husband’s sloppiness gives you an opportunity to serve him in practical ways by cleaning up after him joyfully.
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Make a thankful tree with your family. Tear a brown paper bag into a trunk and branches and tape it to the wall or a door. Each evening at dinner, have each family member write one thing they are thankful for on a cut out construction paper leaf and tape it to a branch.
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Purchase Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainey. This beautiful book is a great read aloud that includes a CDs of instrumental Thanksgiving hymns.
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Jen G. 2010
2 comments:
Wow, great verses for me to get my morning off with! Sophie and I are off to get a neck xray to see if her aednoids grew back (weird!) but they are wondering about that. Your description of sunken eyes, dark cicles under the eyes, barking seal, etc...is exactly to a tee what our daughter struggles with! I'm ready to go ask for a her tonsils to be removed. Our son had his out and same thing....a different child. They didn't want to remove Sophie's tonsils when her aednoids came out because it would require a longer surgery and she was ony 3 at the time. I asked about it but they just didn't want to do it then. But now i'm really wondering if that's what we should do. I don't know if they do it at four years old though. Thanks for the input!
Loved this post. Thanks Jen! Going to make that thankful tree and make a list of things that I have not been thankful for as of late! :)
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