thanksgiving

In All Circumstances Give Thanks…

thanksgiving Holly Hrywnak

It’s easy to get caught up in complaining. Maybe it’s just me, but negativity tends to flow smoothly out of the caverns of my mouth. Most of the time I add a slight comedic twist to make it more acceptable, but if you shake it down it’ll easily be uncovered. The complaints are no respecter of persons and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The weather and line lengths at the super market are the easy go-to’s. From there it can, and usually does, include misunderstandings at work, drivers on the highway and misinterpreted text messages sent from a family member. If my best friend were to count, I’m sure she’s received on average a dozen texts a day where I’m ranting and raving over one more injustice or one more way my life could be better. “IF ONLY…!!!” Thankfulness on the other hand takes work. I turn 30 in less than a month, and I’ve been dreading it since the day I turned 29. I guess I figured I’d be at a different place in life by this point. I’d be married, with kids and ministry would somehow be “easier”. With the milestone birthday getting closer and …Read more

The Essential Nature of Gratitude for the Christian

thanksgiving Tabitha Westbrook

The Essential Nature of Gratitude for the Christian This past Sunday my pastor taught on thankfulness, as I’m sure many pastors did the weekend before Thanksgiving. Thankfulness is incredibly important; however, I would also go so far as to say it is essential in the life of a Christian. I’m not talking about just saying grace over a meal or saying, “Thanks Jesus” after a good day. I’m talking about an overall attitude of the heart. I know most seasoned Christians can quote some scriptures on being thankful, but I’m thinking we need to get to something deeper. My pastor, I think, hit the nail on the head this Sunday. He taught out of Romans 1:16-32. Now, these are not likely to be the verses you think of when you think of thankfulness. There are some pretty hard things in this section of scripture. We don’t like to talk about sin. But what my pastor pointed out that I found fascinating – and convicting – was what preceded the long list of sin found there. Romans 1:21 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their …Read more