30 Days of Thankfulness ~ Day 30

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:18‬ ‭

Give thanks. In all circumstances. In all. In the good, in the bad. In the light, in the dark. In the joy and in the pain. 

Learning this verse, living this verse, has not been easy the last few months. What do you do when thanks feels forced? What do you do when making your lips form those words seems like you are denying the true feelings in your heart about the thing you are facing? Thankful? Thankful for what? 

This annual act of Thanksgiving, while trivial at times before, had more meaning for me this year. I may have written about something seemingly insignificant on one day or another, but that particular day may not have had many bright spots and I had to search for just one thing. Anything. Other days were rich and brimming with thanksgiving bubbling up out of my heart. Those were the easy to write days. 

Each day with this act of choosing thankfulness, I was forced to acknowledge the One I was thankful to. The Giver of only perfect gifts. The Giver of life, my life. Each day of my life, whether filled with good or bad, beautiful or ugly, sweet or sorrow, is a gift. Gifts of moment by moment being beckoned closer to Him, to know Him, to love Him. 

After a month of thankfulness writing, I am finding it easier to find thankfulness for things I wouldn't have given a second thought to. I've learned to look for the things to be thankful for even amidst the hard. More than anything though, I've felt invited, wooed into intimacy with the Giver of each breath I take. He loves me so. And for this I am so thankful.