The pilgrims had a really tough life by today’s standards, yet they took time to put together the first Thanksgiving to praise God for His bountiful blessings to them. Over the history of our country, there have been many more times where people endured great hardships such as the pioneers who moved by wagon from the East to the West through natural disasters and conflicts with people and animals they encountered along the way. It is interesting that there was a greater lifestyle of gratitude with these people and also with people who went through the Great Depression and World War II. This has been shown in the Mississippi Gulf Coast people who weathered hurricanes with gratitude for what they had and what survived – as opposed to the whining of the New Orleans 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina.
One of my favorite songs is Thank You Lord for Your Blessings On Me by Jeff and Sheri Easter. It speaks to those everyday blessings life like a “roof up above me and shoes on my feet.” Even with the problems that are falling out of the Biden administration, we still have more blessings in the USA than in any country I know of.
Living with a mindset of thankfulness makes life better. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” What is in our hearts affects us inside and out, such as levels of blood pressure and tightness of muscles to how we get along with neighbors. The day of Thanksgiving is a reminder to be thankful – but the real value comes in living this out every day of our lives. We have a choice – we can live with gratitude, or we can be the proverbial sore-tailed cat and whine all of the time. A life of gratitude is more enjoyable and productive. Today is still Thanksgiving day.
