Giving Thanks: Reflecting On Life

Nov 23, 2017

4 min read

Today we come together to celebrate being thankful. We have so many things in our lives to take the time to think and reflect on. Today as we spend time with family, fill our plates, hurry around from place to place to say our hello's and goodbye's, we are left with a fullness in our hearts. Some of the happiest times in my life have been around the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas is a wonderful season getting to spend time with close family, and also family members you haven't seen all year long.

There is a devotional book that I like to look at when spending time with God, it is called A Daily Walk Through Psalms. I recently bought it this year and it has really helped me reflect on my life. It also helps me write some of the things I have posted so far on my blog. As this year is slowly coming to an end you start to look back in the year at all the good and bad. Hopefully it is mostly good! This year I have had many up's and down's spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. I know that we all have these in our lives... it is all a part of it. I have heard this a lot over the years from a smart man very near and dear to me (cough, cough, dad) that "its not what's going on, its all in how you handle it." As I reflect through this year I had a hard time with myself as a person and where "I was" in life and where "I needed" to be. Looking around at everyone else and then looking back at me I wasn't happy. What I learned I was looking at was what everyone else had, where everyone else was, the places they had traveled, and what degree that they received. Being on social media can be an awesome way to keep up with people throughout life, but it can also be a dangerous place to be if your mind set isn't set right.

Today I don't want to just talk about what to be thankful for in life, but about how we respond to how we reflect on our lives. In life we, as a society, tend to paint a perfect picture for others to see. We paint our lives in this flawless photo that looks and seems like everyone is happy and life is perfect. Just because you are happy doesn't mean life is perfect, life is never going to be perfect and neither are we. Reflecting on where I have been and the mindset I used to have, sometimes it still comes up, but you can easily have these thoughts of being perfect for everyone else. You can't make everyone happy; we ultimately need to be happy within ourselves to be our full potential. We also have to realize that sometimes it's okay to not be okay, but not to let it make you dig a deeper hole and hibernate there. We have to set our minds on better things, and set our minds on things above.

"Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." - Colossians 3:1-2

As I get older, I learn more and more about who I am, who I want to be and what I really am thankful for in life. I am so blessed to have a wonderful family who has seen me through good and bad, and for friends who love me for me and that we can go so long without seeing each other and pick up where we left off. I am thankful for a man who God really did make and send to me who has loved me through many things. Going through hard times you realize more and more that God does hear you when you speak to him with a humble heart. There have been times you have to get on your knees in life and pray for God to take full control because He is the only one who can. I am mostly thankful for a God who loves me enough to send His only son to die for all of my sins. It is a powerful feeling to know someone took my and your place for the things we have done in life that was sinful. Thank you for reading and I hope you had a restful and enjoyable Thanksgiving. I leave you with what would you like to reflect on in your life this year, what would you want to change or improve. For you it could be what are you truly thankful for and to remind us that we should try to stay humble and have Thanksgiving everyday.