Are You Really Thankful?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and let's all face it, between the controversy over its origin, the full-force Christmas décor already surrounding us, and the replacement of Black Friday with Thanksgiving Day shopping, you have to ask if its still a holiday, or if its just an excuse to indulge in gluttony? 

Thanksgiving shouldn't just be an annual holiday that has been nearly forgotten. Instead, it should be a state of mind. We have a lot to be grateful for!  Unfortunately, most Americans (you know like 99% of us) get distracted by our wish lists and to-do lists and never take the time to recognize our obnoxious abundance.

A few weeks ago we were blessed to have a special guest visit our church.  Stanley Gitari came from Kenya to let us know what his ministry is doing with the children in his village.  While he is a native to Maua, Kenya, he went to college in the US and has experienced our culture.  He can attest to the statistic that if you live in America, you are in the top 10% of the world.  Our homeless can go to a shelter and take a shower that will assuredly be pumping out clean water and most likely its also hot.   I would never want to live what our homeless do, but to think that they are living higher than 90% of the world is astonishing.

The things we take for granted, are things that are luxuries for so many other!  That is why I love this video by a church in Charlotte, because it allows us to see even what we have at the most basic level, is a gift! 

Two weekends ago I was in Monterey, at the Organic Outreach Conference.  This amazing event equips Christian leaders with tools to help love the world around us because God is love!  As I wrote down copious notes at the conference, I was more than inspired! There was one thing that hit me between the eyes as I listened to the various speakers and that was the statistics surrounding the state of the American church today. 

You see all Christians are called to share the love of God with the world (Matthew 28:18-20) and statistics show that a majority of Christians strongly agree (55%) with the fact that we all have a personal responsibility to share our faith, and 43% of people said they felt comfortable doing so, yet in contrast, 61% of those same people said they haven't shared Jesus with anyone in the last six months.  Why?  Why aren't we sharing the love of Jesus?  The reality is we just don't care. 

We have lost our compassion for the world around us.  Another study quoted showed that while 21% of Christians claim to pray to win the lottery only 20% said they prayed for friends of other faiths or no-faiths.  Really? I'd say we've lost some perspective.  According to one speaker, Adam T Barr, Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world, just not in America.  We are fat, dumb and happy and quite frankly, its unacceptable. 

Consumerism is our God and we will continue to bow at the alter of our own needs as a culture.  So what is the solution? I'm not suggesting you sell all you have and animate impoverished lives to understand the plight of the world.  We live the latte life and I don't see that changing anytime soon. 

Gratitude.  Gratitude is the answer.  As a Christian, I have received the greatest gift.  I believe that I need Jesus and I believe he is God.  I accepted his free gift that gives grace to all I've done wrong.  The sacrifice of his life, as the act of love needed to forgive all I've done, is the greatest gift.  It means that my life is more than the 90 years I live on earth.  I will spend eternity with him and I must live for that and not the few years in comparison, I have on this planet.  I know God has the best planned for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and while I can't always see it, I can be grateful in that knowledge because I have no idea what God has planned to do with even the worst of circumstances, but I know he won't let it go to waste.  My part is to be grateful. 

As we say goodbye to loved ones, I am grateful for the years I had.
As I suffer with sickness, I am grateful for my normal health. 
As I turn on lights in my house, I am grateful that I have electricity. 
As I take a shower or open a bottle of water, I am grateful for clean water or hot water. 
As I put on my shoes, I am grateful to have them.
As I hug my husband, I am grateful for the force he is in my life, both to encourage me and challenge me to be a better woman. 

This list goes on, and on and on. 

I am grateful for my years of infertility because of the compassion its given me for women who face that plight. 
I am grateful for a mom who would go hungry so my sister and I could eat because I was given the best example of how to mother my kids - sacrificially. 
I am grateful for the moments that sucked and had me raising a white flag because they strengthened me. 

This list goes on and on and on. 

Don't just let gratitude reside in a prescribed day of the year (or even month) but sew it into your life.  Make it a response you have to whatever comes your way.  Let it transform you so that you have compassion for those around you and love them like it's your job...because - it is!!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today and every day after...

What Will You Do With Yours?

I went out today and bought groceries at Costco.  I hate grocery shopping so I try to get as much as I can at the beginning of each pay period.  I spent over $200 on groceries and other household items.  This number echoes in my ears as I learned this weekend that if you spend over $2.50 a day, you are in the top half of the world’s population.  The fact that I own a car, puts me in the top 90%.  I don’t often think of myself in this way as I see many people in my circles making much more money than me.  My husband and I are a middle-class family, but just because the comparisons of wealth in my own backyard are much greater than mine, doesn’t ignore the fact that I am wealthy in comparison with the world.  

I was recently challenged to share my abundance.  I was asked to look at what that might mean for me.  What I have come to recognize, is my abundance goes beyond money.   My husband and I are fairly generous people.  We give to our church each month and share other monies with non-profits locally and abroad, and then of course there are those who come across our path seeking funds for a variety of reasons, that beg for a $5 here or $10 there.  Even with that, I know we could give more.  It might take sacrifice, but sacrifice could do me some good.  

However, as I reflected I realized some of my abundance comes from my heart.  I am someone who naturally has always loved people and sought to hear the heart of a person.  I know I can talk, but I think I can also lovingly listen.  I realize in our world today, showing the world love, one person at a time, can really be utilizing my abundance.  I have an inner strength as a result of my faith and relationship with God.  When others struggle, my abundance might be sending encouraging words, letters or even praying with them or offering a hug.  I can take that gift God has given me for granted, and go about my busy day, but I have an obligation as someone whom has been given much to give even more (Luke 12:48). Which isn't what I always want to hear, especially when I just want to spend time doing what I enjoy and wish for my time and efforts to serve myself.  

Now before you tell me I need to enjoy life too and have some balance, please know that is not what I am speaking to.  If you are tired, get sleep; if you are hungry, eat something.  You do need to pay attention to yourself and know what you need, but more often than not we don't give because we just don't want to,not because we have nothing left to give.  

What areas can you give?  Maybe its giving up a membership you don’t use to spend that money on someone in need.  Maybe its giving away clothes and shoes you don’t wear or don’t fit to someone who can wear them now.  Maybe its taking time out of your life to look to the needs of those around you.  Sometimes lending a listening year is the abundance you have to give.  Sure it means having to give up time you wanted to spend reading, watching tv, enjoying a hobby or just playing a game on your phone, but it can meet someone’s deficit.  

What will you give?  What will you do with your abundance?