This Thanksgiving has been both wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. For those of you that don’t know, 5 years ago, within six weeks, the three most important men in my life (at that time) passed away and rocked my “Polly Anna” world. First my husband of 27 years died at the age of 48. A few weeks later, my uncle whom I adored and admired passed away and then in the next month, my father unexpectedly passed away. For years, we had the best holidays ever. We all gathered at my Grandma’s and cooked, ate, hunted, played games, ate some more, laughed… They were the best of times. Everyone I loved was always there.
It all started this year when I was frosting some cinnamon rolls, and I began thinking of the times I made cinnamon rolls for my dad and how much he loved them. From there on, I could not get my mind off past Thanksgivings and the wonderful times we had. I was an emotional wreck, holding on by a thread all weekend while all of the time I was surrounded by the most wonderful new family whom God has so graciously allowed me to be a part of.
I had to give myself the “buck up camper” speech many times over the last few days. While grief is real, it is also so easy to fall into the depths of pity when looking at the past, and what is no longer, instead of looking at the blessings of today.
Psalm 118:24 kept coming to my mind in the form of the song we used to sing in church.
“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Tonight I had to look up that verse and see if it was for real or just a song. As I began to read the whole chapter, I was reminded of the power of praise and thankfulness. The chapter opens “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His mercy endures forever.” Then later the psalmist states, “The Lord is my strength … and I will praise the Lord.” Keep in mind who the psalmist most likely is. According to my study bible, this chapter was most likely sung by the Savior on the night before His death. Just think of that, as Christ was facing death, He was praising the lord, giving thanks and rejoicing.
While I so deeply miss the wonderful holidays of the past, I have so much to be thankful for. I must continue to praise the Lord and give thanks. He has been faithful beyond measure.
I know many of you will face the same dilemma this holiday season. It is so easy to get caught up in comparing the past to the present, when in reality we have so much to be thankful for in our present state. I pray that if you find yourself feeling this way, you can stop and give praise to the Lord and begin calling out reasons to be thankful for your current situation.
View From My Shoes 