Thanksgiving and gratitude

This past week has been a trying one. I'm not here to bemoan all of my small, petty problems, but more for the opportunity to share with you how easy it is to get bogged down. Last week started out in a positive way; I felt that I overcame a small situation at home and at work and was promoting that this is an excellent time for all of us to count our blessings as part of a prayer group (7th Hour Prayer Power). As the week wore on, another "bad thing" happened, and then another and another. I don't even remember what they all were, that's how insignificant my troubles are, but in the end, I let it all weigh me down. I'm very empathetic and so I take on others' bad feelings as well as my own and it's very easy to just say "chuck-it", curl up under my blankets and wait for the storm to pass.

I wish I could tell you that everything is great now and I feel rejuvenated and ready to take on the world, but it doesn't work quite that way; what I can tell you is that on top of our daily praying focusing on the positive instead of the negative, today's sermon was about "gratitude". It was the icing on the cake. I'll share the link as soon as it's uploaded to iTunes but in the meantime, I wanted to share one part of it (paraphrasing of course)...
There was a man, Matthew Henry who was a well-known Bible commentator among other things. His journal was found after his death and one of the entries was about being robbed. I think most of us if we were robbed, and if we took the time to journal afterward would be complaining and angry and feel violated which is why this journal entry was so amazing. Matthew wrote what he was thankful for that day.
- he was thankful that he had never been robbed before this.
- he was thankful that the robber only took his money and not his life, and
- he was thankful that he was not the robber.

What an amazing illustration of being Christ-like, and what an extraordinary way to look at life. When something wrong happens, how much less it would affect us if we only took some extra time (& strength) to look at it differently, to see that there is good with every bad. A young man at work tends to get the brunt of my "venting" because he's so calming and easy to talk to. No matter what I throw at him he always shrugs his shoulders and says "it could've been worse." What can you say to that except "yeah, you're right"?
No matter what happens, try not to let it crush you. One great way to do that is to count your blessings. I've counted mine and they are numerous and I am full of gratitude. My Father takes care of me, comforts me, and listens to me. I am thankful.