Ever reminisce about past holidays?  Today I was thinking about one particular Thanksgiving that brought out the best in our family.  Especially in our then 14-year-old daughter who planned, shopped, and cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal for our large family.  And our 17-year-old daughter who drove younger daughter to the grocery store, baked 9 pies (the ones in the photo aren’t nearly as pretty as hers!  These are my ugly ones from a few years back.)  and took a plate of leftovers to a friend who had to work.  And the daughters and son who cleaned up the mess without complaining.  How did I motivate these heroic acts?  Very simple.  I had been literally lying flat on the floor unable to function normally for weeks.  A back issue had sidelined me.  I couldn’t be on my feet or sit for more than a few minutes at a time.  I hadn’t considered this situation to be a blessing. . . until that Thanksgiving.  Seeing how willing, capable, and generous our kids were was a huge blessing.  It also taught me that sometimes I was getting in their way.  By doing things myself or telling them to do things my way, I had been hindering their journey in discovering their own strengths.  My handicap had unleashed them.  They were free to do things their way.  It was a beautiful thing!  I learned that God gives us good gifts right in the middle of hard times.  So I try to look for those sweet, love gifts on the grey days as well as the sunny days.  I try to keep my eyes ‘peeled’ for the big and the little things that come from my kind Heavenly Father.  

Many people keep a journal of daily blessings.  This is a smart idea because it helps to remind us to look for day-to-day gifts from God and it helps us remember past blessings we might otherwise forget.  Dear Husband and I were thanking the Lord out loud each night when we went to bed for all the things we could think of that were blessings that day.  Things like treasured hours with a grandchild, a good conversation with a friend, a hug from a child, a drive thru fields and forests, a good meal, a job completed, a hawk displaying its prowess.  We had slipped out of that habit, but are resuming that happy-making habit. It’s never too late for a new start. 

It’s a fact that thanking God makes us happy.  We don’t have to wait until things are going well and we feel happy to thank him.  We thank him, and then we feel happy.  We thank him when things aren’t going well.  In fact, thinking of things to thank him for in the hard places brings its own joy.  It puts our focus on how God is showing us love when we need it the most.  No matter how bad things are, we still can thank him for his presence with us, his good plan for us, his listening ear, and the kind of God he is. 

There are so many examples of people in the Bible giving thanks in the middle of hard circumstances and then God filling them with happiness.  Soon after, they saw him step into their mess and help them.  One example is good King Hezekiah who inherited a terrible mess from his evil father, King Ahaz.  Ahaz had shut down the temple of the Lord and erected pagan altars.  As a result, God had allowed their enemies on every side to invade, plunder, and take captives.  By the time Hezekiah began to reign, the country was in ruins.  The very first thing he did as the new king was not to raise a bigger army but to re-open and clean God’s temple, and gather those who were appointed to lead the people in worship.  After the temple, the leaders, and the people were made clean by sacrifices, they worshiped and thanked God.  They praised God with music, reading Psalms, and prayer.  “So they offered joyous praise and bowed down in worship. And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of what God had done for the people”  (2 Chronicles 29:30,36) Nothing had changed in their circumstances.  They were still despised and defeated, but now they had joy.  In fact, things got worse instead of better.  A powerful king invaded shortly after.  In the face of their formidable foe, King Hezekiah reminded the people, “He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!” (2 Chronicles 32:8). In answer to prayer, God intervened and saved the struggling nation in a miraculous way.  

We may not be facing a huge army, but we have our own battles.  If we make thankfulness a habit, we will have a wellspring of happiness.  Often, the Lord sends small favors to cheer us in the minutia of daily life.  Those little things won’t be wasted on us if we make it our habit to notice and enjoy those seconds or minutes of delight and raise our eyes to the Giver.  This past week I was going to meet our teenage granddaughter for coffee on her day off from school.  I had baked a dessert to eat with our take-out coffee and had a few little things to give her.  My hands were full, and as I fumbled into the driver’s seat of our car, I wrenched a body part that has been calling attention to itself for weeks.  I was so discouraged.  It had been improving and now it was screaming again.  I wanted to focus on my special girl, not be distracted by pain. I put my head on the steering wheel and begged the Lord to help me.  I knew that he thought my time with my granddaughter was important and therefore was listening to my plea for help.  I was so grateful that he cared and would be faithful to help.  I started the car and the radio came on to the station Husband had been listening to when he last drove the car.  As I backed out of the driveway, to my delight, the song that was playing was a favorite worship song about the goodness and strength of God that lifted my spirits as I drove and sang along.  It doesn’t lift anyone else’s spirits when I sing, but when alone, I can sing to the Lord who doesn’t care about my pitch, just my heart.  By the time the song was over, my pain had lessened and my heart was light.  I met my granddaughter with a smile on my face.  (On the way home, my heart was happy and guess what?  Not one song played that I knew and loved.  I didn’t need one.)

So this week, let’s thank God in the midst of our hassles, hurry, and heartaches.  Let’s be on the lookout for his blessings big and small.  We’ll be happier.