How thankful am I?

It's that time of year again that comes & goes all too quick. A time to stop and be thankful for the many undeserved blessings we each have in our lives. I imagine if we were to make a list, there wouldn't be enough paper to contain them. But do we really think about it on a daily basis or just when we celebrate "Thanksgiving?" I know I'm guilty of not being grateful enough. It's a practice I have to mentally discipline myself to do. But, why doesn't it just come naturally to me? With everything I've been given, I should be overflowing with thanks, right? Yet, I'm not always.

Last week, I heard a sermon on being thankful that gave me a new perspective on why that may be. It was a typical "Thanksgiving" sermon until he asked the questions, "If God never did one more thing for you, would you still find a reason to be thankful?" "If he never answered another prayer, would you still worship Him?" Wow. Loaded question, huh? Kinda makes you a little uncomfortable, right? Now, let me say that he followed that up by reminding us we serve a God who has mercy & compassion on us and loves to give His children good gifts. It delights Him to be able to bless us. But, it's definitely a question worth asking. Could I still be thankful if God never answered another prayer or never gave me the desires of my heart? My immediate answer should be yes. After all, He's already done the one thing I could never do for myself. He's saved me from a life apart from Him and has made me His own. That alone should cause me to praise Him continually. And, if that weren't enough, He chose not to stop there. He has blessed me beyond measure with wonderful family, friends, health, a job, a house, clothes, food, and the list could go on and on. So, what's my deal? When I let those questions sink in, my heart immediately went to the one thing in my life I want more than anything. To be a wife. It's a worthy desire in and of itself, but my issue arises when I choose to focus on what God has yet to give me instead of focusing on the hundreds of other blessings He has given me. I would venture to say that I'm not the only person who battles with that. We all have something we're waiting on. The prayer that has gone unanswered and the desire that has been unfilled. It can be so painful sometimes...believe me, I know. But, my challenge to you (and mostly to myself) is, will we choose to be grateful in the waiting? Will we choose instead to look at the blessings, no matter how big or small, that God has SO graciously poured into our lives? That's my prayer. I want to choose to have a thankful heart. And, if God never does one more thing in my life, I still want to worship and thank Him. That's the least I can do for what I have been given.