Well I know the holidays are quickly approaching. Whenever it gets close to Thanksgiving I start to contemplate what I am thankful for.
It could be because my mom requires us to share what we are thankful for before we are allowed to dig into thanksgiving dinner.
My usual answers or should I say the easy answers are:
my family,
a house to live in,
food,
a job,
the family dog,
transportation to work,
Jesus dying on the cross, etc.
But…
This week I came across a short story that made me begin to re-question my thankful list.
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Jenny Lind was known as “The Swedish Nightingale” during her very successful career as an operatic singer. She became one of the wealthiest artists of here time, yet she left the stage at a time when she was singing her best. And, she never returned to it.
Countless people speculated as to the reason for her leaving, and most people wondered how she could give up so much applause, fame, and money. Fo her part, she seemed content to live in privacy in a home by the sea.
One day a friend found her on the sea sands, her Bible on her knees, looking out into the glorious glow of a sunset. As they talked, the friend asked, “Jenny Lind, how is it that you ever came to abandon the stage at the height of your success?”
She answered quietly, “When every day it made me think less of this (laying a finger on her Bible) and nothing at all of that (pointing to the sunset), what else could I do?”
The world may never understand your decision to follow God’s way. But then, perhaps God cannot understand a decision to pursue what the world offers.
–Story taken from God’s Little Devotional Book by Honor Books Inc.
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My usual thankful list consist of the “haves” instead of the “have nots“. But I started thinking, that maybe its not what I have, but the blessings I have received from not having.
Some people look at me or my team mates and think we are crazy for selling all of our possessions and living without the comforts of life for a year. You may even think I am crazy. But I see my have nots as a blessing.
I see the have nots as something to be thankful for.
These have nots have opened my eyes to things I was not previously aware of.
*I am selfish.
*I am consumed.
*I am materialistic.
*I am greedy.
*I am all about me.
They also made me realize what I now have.
*The opportunity of a life time.
*Love, Joy, Freedom to share with others.
*Appreciation for life.
*Opportunity for growth.
*The simple but so indescribable message of Christ’s love.
*The time to watch God’s beautiful creation.
So maybe for this Thanksgiving see what you can do without or can give up. Maybe it will make you realize something about yourself. Maybe it will make you more thankful for the “haves“. Or Maybe it will make you appreciate the blessings you’ve received from your “have nots“.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
