Choose Thankful

A few weeks ago my husband came in from mowing our yard and said, "Remember those rotten pumpkins from last fall that I tossed across the road by the mailbox?" I replied with one of those "trying-to-remember" looks on my face that every wife knows, "Uh, sure." With excitement he said, "Well, guess what. They grew some pumpkins!"

As the season of thankfulness approaches us within the next month leading up to Thanksgiving, the story of our volunteer pumpkins is more than just a story, but a blessing.

It’s not always the big things in life that bring us the most joy, but the little things sometimes give us the greatest reward. Our 5- and 3-year-old boys sure were excited to be able to walk with us across the road to pick a couple of pumpkins that night. They even helped me decorate our home with them!

Life brings us so many obstacles and trials that I often think we forget to look at the little things as blessings just as much as the big things. It’s much easier to count all the negatives in our lives than it is to count the blessings, but why when blessings bring happiness and negative things bring sadness and anger?

In a short video that I shared during worship one Sunday morning at church, it talked about choosing thankfulness. Scripture tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. Many times it is easy to be thankful when times are good, but what about when times are difficult or when we lose a loved one? The video reminded the congregation, "In the good times and the hard times, in the questions and in the answers, in the first moments and in the last moments and all the moments in between, choose thankful."

Over the next few weeks, I challenge you to think about the ways you are blessed on a daily basis. Write them down or make a mental note of them each day. Take time on your drive to and from work to gaze at the beauty of nature and be thankful we live in a place where we can voluntarily enjoy our freedom.

Your life isn’t over because of a fight or when things don’t go the way you have planned. Be thankful in all circumstances and be thankful that God promised to always be with you.


"Be thankful in all circumstances ..." 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

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