Giving Thanks

I've been wanting to write this post for some time now, and I'm glad I finally have the time to write tonight. I wanted to make sure this posted before Thanksgiving because this is about giving thanks.

Last November I did something on Facebook where every day of the month I listed something I was thankful for. I'm sure you don't remember my doing this, but I certainly do, and it's actually something I've thought about time and again this past year. And even if you don't remember me doing it, I'm sure if you're on Facebook at least one of your friends is currently doing this - some call it '30 days of thanks' or something similar.

This year, I've refrained from doing it and wanted to write this blog post in its place.

The idea of giving thanks and being grateful is a wonderful one. It's terrible to go through life taking things for granted, not appreciating them, and not being thankful for them. But I think sometimes we get it wrong and end up being hurt or let down because of it.

You see every day last November I expressed my thanks to God for things like my husband, my dog, my family, my friends, my health, my pregnancy, and little things I take pleasure in like bubble baths or hot cups of tea... But come December and January... what was I thanking God for?

Was I still thankful for my healthy pregnancy when my baby actually wasn't healthy, and I learned she was going to die? Was I still thanking God for the family he's given me when my dad was dying of cancer and when suddenly in January my family was stricken with grief, and I no longer had a daughter or father? In the months after losing Hailey and my dad, was I still thankful for something as trivial as being able to drink a hot cup of tea? I have to say probably not.

What was wrong with me? Was I suddenly ungrateful? Was God not blessing my life? Did He not care? And so the questions ate away at me.

Think about it.

I can say I'm thankful that God has blessed me with such a wonderful home and that I'm not living on the streets, but what if something happens and I am living on the streets. What am I thankful for then? Perhaps then I could say well at least I still have my health, for that I'm thankful. But what happens when I learn I have cancer? Am I still thankful that I'm unhealthy? Honest answer, probably not.

Everything I was thankful for in the past was usually circumstantial. Sure it's good to be thankful for your circumstances, but what about when your circumstances aren't what you want them to be or are beyond what you can bare? I'm not thankful that my baby died. I'm not thankful for my grief. I'm not thankful for the depression. I'm not thankful for those circumstances in and of themselves. I'm only thankful when the circumstances are what I want them to be, when life is good and cushy.

Do you see my issue here? I'm sure you can relate to some extent.

The risk of placing our gratitude in circumstances is that they change and when they are taken from us it can leave us feeling angry, bitter, depressed, hurt, and empty. It happened to me.

I went for the whole month of November feeling very blessed by God and very thankful for everything in my life... for my circumstances... But what happened to me when my circumstances drastically changed to the most painful circumstances I could imagine? I felt a blow of disappointment. I felt let down, even cursed by God. I was depressed and close to feeling empty, alone, and hopeless.

Was I still thankful I had a home and clothes on my back? Of course I was, but knowing those things and being thankful for them didn't uplift me. Honestly, I could have cared less that I still had nice clothes or a nice car to drive because I'd give it all away to have my daughter back... to have my dad back...

I really struggled with these things this past year. I wanted to give thanks to God. I wanted to be grateful for my life and what he's given me... But I couldn't do it and that's because I had it all wrong.

Here's my point. Too often we are only grateful for our circumstances and material things, too often that's where our hope and joy come from, and too often that's wrong. This year I think I have it right.

Sure I'll still give thanks to God for my home and food and everything else he provides for me... But I've learned to still be thankful even if when those things are taken away. How can that be?

Because I'm thankful for God. My thanks and my hope and my joy are all placed in God. I am thankful God is who He says He is. I am thankful for His promises. I am thankful He loves me. Because God and His word are true and will never change, I can always give thanks, I can always place my trust, I can always find hope, and I will never be disappointed.

So today... and every day... I am thankful for God.

Here's my list that's in the works. It's just the beginning with only a few scripture references of support even though there are many more.

I am thankful God created me and knows me better than I know myself. (Ps. 119:73, 139:13)


I am thankful God loves me and that he loves me so much it reaches to the Heavens and that he sent his son to die for me so I can have a relationship with him and eternal life with him. (John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 5:7, Ps. 58: 10)

I am thankful God has prepared a place for me with him in Heaven. (John 14:2)

I am thankful that one day I will enter God's Kingdom and be reunited with my daughter and hopefully my dad and that I will spend an eternity with them and God in perfect love and peace and joy ... (2 Sam. 12:23, Rev. 21:4)

I am thankful God created me to be in relationship with him. (Gen. 5:1, Lev. 26:12)


I am thankful God has given me his Holy Spirit, that he empowers me, that he enables me to approach his throne, and that he wants to hear from me. (Romans 5:5, Hebrews 4:16)


I am thankful God gives me his strength when I am weak and that he renews my strength to go on every day. (2 Cor. 12:9-10, Isaiah 40: 31)


I am thankful God gives me peace when I am in turmoil and seek him. (Phil. 4:7, Romans 15:13)


I am thankful God never changes and is a firm rock upon which I can stand. (Hebrews 13:8, 2 Samuel 22:32-34)

I am thankful God lifts me up when I am down. (Ps. 40:2)


I am thankful God is compassionate. (Ps. 116:5)

I am thankful God is close to me and comforts me when I grieve and cry and mourn and ache and am full of pain. (Ps. 34:18)


I am thankful God is the ultimate healer and has and continues to heal my brokenness. (Jer. 30:17,


I am thankful God has saved me from depression; he sustains me and helps me. (Ps. 54:4, Ps. 55:22)

I am thankful God guides my paths. ( Ps. 3:6)


I am thankful God will never leave me or forsake me and that he is faithful. (Deut. 7:9)


I am thankful God enables me to be what I've always wanted but am naturally not, like kind, patient, loving, and so on. (Gal. 5:22, 2 Tim. 1:7)


I am thankful God forgives me for all the ugly things I am and do. (1 John 1:9)


I am thankful to be called a child of God's. (1 John 3:1, Isaiah 43:25)


I am thankful that God continues to redeem my broken life. (Ps. 103:3-4)


I am thankful nothing I can ever do and nothing at all can ever separate me from the love of God. (Romans 8:37-39)