In No Hurry to Move On
Special Gratitude Edition
The day after Halloween, we saw them – the first Christmas lights adorning homes in our neighborhood. “Hold up!” I thought. “Weren’t we just handing out candy to trick-or-treaters last night?! And now the yards that were full of skeletons and tombstones are sporting icicle lights and reindeer.”
Uh, wait a minute, guys. You just skipped my favorite holiday. I can’t tell you what I ate on Labor Day. I can’t tell you what I wore that day. But I can tell you what I did. I decorated my house for Thanksgiving!
Out came the pumpkins and lovely placemats in beautiful fall colors. Candles that smell like cinnamon and pumpkin pie were lit and have been burning since September. Candy wrapped in yellow, orange, and red filled the candy dishes and littered the dining table. I pulled out the Thanksgiving greeting cards from years past and propped them up around the house. I sprinkled the fake fall leaves along the table runner and hung the Thanksgiving cup towels in the kitchen. My patchwork scarecrow took his usual place in the middle of the dining room centerpiece.
Never mind that it was 95 degrees outside. In our house, it was “Thanksgiving cozy,” and my heart was happy!
I know lots of people who have their Christmas trees up and decorated. For weeks, they’ve been giddy with anticipation to pull out the lights, the ornaments, and the tree topper. And I will be, too – on November 29!
At this point, I’m actually a little sad at the prospect of packing up my Thanksgiving décor after almost three months of it being a part of the landscape around here. I’ll miss the visible reminders to give thanks to God in all things, at all times. I’ll miss the palette of autumn that’s splashed all over the house. And I’ll be sad to switch out the candy in the candy dishes from fall to Christmas colors. (My only consolation will be that I might have to eat the leftover fall candy if the grandkids don’t get to it first!)
On a serious note, I’m grateful to celebrate a season of joy and intentional appreciation for God’s good gifts. People, experiences, and provision placed in my life by a loving Father – these are all blessings too rich to only celebrate one day out of the year. My aim is to take my “thanks-giving” and turn it into “thanks-living” so that all of life is a journey of gratitude. And this season primes my heart for the season of generosity that’s just around the corner.
Even with three months of Thanksgiving décor, the practice of gratitude is a daily discipline in our home. My growing stack of gratitude journals – with blessings recorded just about every morning – testifies to the goodness of God in my life. When the pumpkins and fake fall leaves are replaced by the nativity set and a sparkling Christmas tree, I’ll still be pulling out my journal and counting my blessings. I hope you will be, too.
Generous Father, thank You for this season of thanksgiving in our nation. Thank You for instituting thanksgiving as a means of entering Your presence thousands of years before this country was ever born. Thank You for the beauty of life and the wonder of the changing seasons – gifts that come from Your generous heart and Your desire to pour out blessing upon blessing to Your beloved children. We receive all that You give us – moment by moment - with humility, joy, love, and gratitude. In the beautiful Name of Jesus, amen.
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“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24
