Today is the day where we all remember to be thankful. As we sit around a turkey feast, grabbing a third piece of pie, and sharing what and who we are grateful for, our hearts are filled.
Remembering the good, the blessings, the love steadies the mind and reassures the heart that all will be okay — God has provided and will continue to provide.
Then we wake from our turkey induced slumber to November 28th and the weight of holiday stress crashes down on us. All thought of blessing and thanks are drowned out by Black Friday madness harmonizing with Christmas to-do lists.
So how can we remove the Christmas season stress? I think the key lies in Thanksgiving Day!
We spend Thanksgiving intentionally remembering the blessings in our lives. What if we did that throughout the holiday season? What if we let our thankfulness for what we already have guide our thoughts? What if instead of focusing on the to-do list, we focus on what has already been done?
I usually stress out during Christmas time because I’m rushing about trying to buy and do nice things for the people I love. Shouldn’t that be rewarding instead of stressful? I get so wrapped up in my to-do list I forget the reason I’m buying and making all these things — I give gifts in remembrance of THE GIFT.
When I slow down enough to be intentionally thankful for the gift of Jesus Christ everything else falls into perspective.
I want to challenge you today, even though you are the middle of celebrating, to intentionally wake up tomorrow with an attitude bent on giving thanks. Before your feet hit the floorboards, pray and give thanks for a few specific things. As you begin Christmas shopping and decking the halls, be intentional in giving thanks for the little things in your day. And this coming year, count your blessings and let them encourage you to worship the Giver of all good gifts.
To be good at anything, you need to practice. Having a thankful heart and living a grateful life doesn’t come naturally. How will you intentionally practice thanksgiving today? This season? This year?
__________________________________________________
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this week has been as much of a blessing to you as it has to me. I’ve shared six wonderful Thanksgiving themed posts with you from six amazing bloggers and I’m honored to be wrapping up this week of thanks! If you missed this Week of Thanks Blog Hop I hope you will take the time to go back and read these 6 posts. Thankfulness isn’t just for Thanksgiving day!
Day 1: Thanksgiving– from Be Extraordinary!
Day 2: Thanksgiving and Gratitude– from Not the Fake PTP
Day 3: 365 Days of Grateful– from The Musing Life
Day 4: Be Thankful. Be Thankful. Be Thankful. -from Overboard Ministries
Day 5: Rooted, Built, Established, and Abounding in Thanksgiving– from Relentless Growth
Day 6: Three Ways to Make This Thanksgiving the Best One Ever– from Danny Ray
Day 7: Intentional Thanksgiving– From Making Life Beautiful
Beautiful Forrest Life 
Reblogged this on Relentless Growth and commented:
Here it is! Day 7 of our Thanksgiving Blog series. I hope you all enjoy your day as you reflect and enjoy family. I know that some are dealing with a loss this year, and please know that I am thinking and praying for you all today. God bless, and thanks for reading!
Reblogged this on The Musing of a Life and commented:
Thanksgiving Day – day 7 of the 7 blog hop on Thanksgiving. Becca’s post reminds us of what is truly important, not just on this day but in the days to come. Stop my her blog, look around and leave her a little blog love!
Great reminders about the upcoming season. Slowing and remembering the true reason. Perfect!
Reblogged this on The Overboard life and commented:
This is blog 7 of 7 on Thanksgiving. I hope you haven’t missed any of these — they really have been outstanding! I saved Becca’s to post today (the day after Thanksgiving) because after you read it, I think you’ll agree, today is the perfect day to post it!
Enjoy her post, and be sure to visit the other posts about Thanksgiving from the other bloggers. I hope you enjoyed this 7 day, 7 blog, 7 blogger Thanksgiving blog-hop, we may just have to do this again!
L♥ve : )
Thanks! I hope you all had a great thanksgiving!
We did! Gluttonous amounts of food and doing a whole lot of nothing…!
Oh and I have had that praying angel for years on your pinterest board!! Great minds think alike!