"O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us . . . If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them."

Psalm 40:5

Thanksgiving Day - a day our country has chosen to set aside for each of us to pause and give thanks for our blessings. We all take different approaches to the day. Many families express their gratitude by serving a Thanksgiving meal to those less fortunate; others ask everyone sitting at the dinner table to share a personal testimony of thanks, while some simply mutter a five second prayer just before diving into a table full of calorie-laden, cholesterol producing casserole dishes and an afternoon of football and napping!! Wait a minute . . . we ALL do that last part, don't we?! Naturally, we want to ridicule the five second prayer mutterer and exalt the more spiritually friendly approaches, but let me be quick to point out that neither is adequate if that's all there is! For the child of God, being grateful calls for more than one day a year anyway! Gratitude is to be a perpetual state of the heart, a continuous confession of the mouth, and a way of life.

However, I live in the real world and am well aware that much of what surrounds us is not only characterized by an overriding attitude of ungratefulness, it's also full of the unattractive traits of grumbling and complaining. Paul said, "Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining against God." Philippians 2:14 But, when you're surrounded by negativity, it's easy to be infected with that same discontented, ungrateful spirit. Instead of being thankful that I have reliable transportation and got to work in one piece and on time, I gripe right along with my co-workers about all the rude drivers, the Paw Paw putters corking up the fast lane, and the seemingly eternal road repair I had to weave my way through to even get to work! I have a roof over my head, the power bill is paid, there's food on the table, my friend complimented me, and my husband loves me, but I forget all that. I've been infected with that 'ol spirit of negativity, so I complain that it's been raining for four days straight, I'm out of Diet Coke, and my children spilled milk at the breakfast table! The negatives are magnified, and the positives are overshadowed. We major on the minors and minor on the majors. It's like having a toothache; we forget about all the other hundreds of body parts that are working perfectly. Yep, we can be a bit pitiful at times.

Every now and then I force myself up the stairs and into the attic to exercise my de-cluttering and organizational skills. One particular day saw some significant progress until I came across a few boxes of keepsakes. I had to take a few moments to reminisce, so there I was pouring over drawings, popsicle stick people, and Mother's Day cards my children had made. Laughter filled the attic as I read entries in my daughter's 3^rd grade journal assignment and recalled how proudly she had worn that pair of shorts we had stitched together her 4^th grade year. My son's box of trophies provoked a bevy of memories of baseball games and the maniacal screaming I did from the sidelines whenever he hit a homerun or pitched a no-hit inning. Dust had to be wiped away from picture frames that still had the photos in them! The memories of dragging the whole family to the portrait studio and threatening the children within an inch of their lives if they got their clothes dirty before we got there provided a nice little chuckle. And, with a smile on my face, I not only found but added to my husband's pile of "beautiful ties that will come back in style one day!" Needless to say, it was a satisfying day full of insight into just how blessed my life had been. Good days and bad were all intertwined through those years of memories, but God used my morning in the attic to remind me of just how much they had ALL been filled with blessings - most of which had been overlooked and unappreciated by me at the time.

In John 10:10 , Jesus said, "I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." A life that overflows in abundance . . . sounds rich, doesn't it? And it IS rich, though we rarely recognize it as such. The abundant, enjoyable life Jesus promised is filled with good things; and, yet, we hardly bat an eye at them. A beautiful sunset enjoyed with a loved one, a child's unrestrained squeals of excitement, one of those good 'ol belly laughs shared with a friend over something insanely silly, a beloved pet's incessant tail wagging at just the sight of us . . . it's an endless list of blessings we completely overlook or allow to be overshadowed.

God used those moments in the attic to remind me of how blessed my past had actually been, and He also used them to encourage me to realize the fullness of my present and one very important truth: Much of this abundant life we were promised depends on you and me and our acknowledgement of the gifts He sends our way every single day. If we never recognize His gifts, we'll never realize our abundance. Just in case you missed it, let me say it again: If we never recognize His gifts, we'll never realize our abundance.

Today is God's gift to you.

Savor every moment and appreciate

every blessing it holds.