Earlier this week, we drove to Indiana late in the evening to come visit family and friends for Thanksgiving. As we drove across the dark interstate one child was crying fighting sleep, another was screaming at the top of his lungs simply because he has discovered his screaming voice and thinks it is HILARIOUS, and the third was crying in frustration because he was annoyed with all the crying from the other two. (A) and I were feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the crying from the backseat and looked at each other with pained expressions, then I giggled and told him I had just been teaching my high school youth group kids that we are called to give thanks in ALLLL circumstances. That night I was thankful all three of them have healthy lungs, and then maybe a little more thankful when they all gave up and fell asleep for the rest of the trip.
The past year has been full of “circumstances.” Some of those days it was extremely easy to be thankful, like the day sweet (lk) was born, and the afternoon we got to introduce her to her adoring big brothers. It was easy to be thankful on summer mornings when the kids enjoyed the sunshine of being outside and we had the leisure of no schedule. It was easy to be thankful on days when my family was all together, when my students enjoyed cool projects I had planned for them, when we spent the evenings with friends, or shared a rare date day. But I can’t lie, some days have been much harder to be thankful. It was hard to be thankful when the dr started worrying about pre-eclampsia, when we were living in quarantine and feeling extremely stressed, and on the days when teaching was HARD. It was hard to feel thankful when loved ones experienced health issues, when they found a mass in my lung, when a friend passed so very young, and on days when I was mentally and emotionally drained from trying to juggle it all. However, those hard days and circumstances don’t change the calling God has given us to “give thanks in all circumstances.”
Today, we will hop in the truck with our kids to make some
Thanksgiving rounds. I doubt that they
will be perfect car riders all day, and amid the food and the family there will
probably be moments I feel overwhelmed with wrangling everyone. But I know that I am overwhelmingly blessed
as well, and so I will try, with all my heart, to give thanks in all
circumstances.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians
5:16-18
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