Inspiration for your week

Thanksgiving week is here!

As we prepare for a special day of giving thanks this Thursday, I find myself grateful that our country observes a Thanksgiving Day—but also feeling that I need to begin and end every day with thanks.

In a world filled with strife and disputes, it's easy to forget to thank God for our blessings.
  But I believe that gratitude is a good antidote for anxiety.

In a world filled with constant comparisons, it's easy to forget to thank God for our blessings.
  But I believe that gratitude is a good antidote for insecurity.

And in a world filled with abundance, it's easy to forget to thank God for our blessings.
  But I believe that gratitude is a good antidote for greediness.

It seems that gratitude is the key to the kind of life I want to live:
  a life of serenity, confidence, and generosity.

So my hope is that this Thanksgiving week will just be the first of many in which I prioritize the act of counting my blessings and thanking God for them. Will you join me?

Perhaps you'll be encouraged, as I was, by these words from Laura Ingalls Wilder:

“As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness -- just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm."

May you have a week full of giving thanks!