What Makes you Thankful?

What makes you Thankful?  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States.  It is a legal holiday set aside for us to reflect upon the things that we hold near and dear to our hearts.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  I love the traditions that we celebrate.  I love the intentional focus of this day!  I am so blessed and God has shown such favor on my life, that I am humbled beyond words.  If everything that I have were removed from me tomorrow I still remain a very fortunate human being.  I deserve nothing that I have and to say that I am grateful seems trite.

As an American the privileges and the blessings dictate that we bless others.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, He mandated that I  'Owe no one anything except to love one another,..'.  (Bible, Romans 13:8a).   Love is not just a verb, it is an adjective and a noun.  It requires action and involvement apart from feeling.  It is a duty with great rewards. Someone benefits, always, by another's love. 

What I am discovering about me, that I am not liking so much, is that there are too many things of late, I do not like or want to do. Why is this a problem?  The problem lies in the fact that my dislikes come from the abundant blessings that have been bestowed upon me.  Stop for a minute and think about your lists of discontent.  Is it a job, laundry, cleaning your home, grocery shopping, going to a doctor, doing daily chores?  Each of these things are abundant blessings most of the world cannot experience.  I have the luxury of choice!  

As I reflect upon the state of the world, the poverty, the lack of medicine and clean water,  the wars, the abuse of people, etc.  I could become discouraged.  What can just one individual do to make a difference?  However, I have learned that one person can make a huge and wonderful difference! 

One smile can give encouragement, one random act of kindness can give hope, one selfless deed can soften a hardened heart, one financial donation can open a door for a better life.   None of these suggestions require a lot of money or even effort.  It requires thinking about someone beside yourself and acting upon it.  

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.  
Albert Einstein

 I weary of those whose wish list is to obtain 'more' of something.  When John D. Rockefeller was asked “how much would be enough?” he answered “just a little bit more.”   "Just a little bit more..." means we are never satisfied.  In this entry my desire is to encourage you to stop long enough and think about what you have.  Can you be content?  Do you need more to make you happy?  Will you really be happy?  I am here to tell you 'stuff' and 'wealth' do not make a happy content person.  Giving back to others is where true happiness is found.

The happiest and most content people I know are those who give to others and do for others.  They do not focus on what they can get out of the arrangement but what they can do next to make another persons life better.    As you look at the photos below the pictures represent housing, health needs, shopping, indulgences such as toys, and jobs.  Do you still wish to pine and complain?

Are you stuck on how to give, how to help, how to change your focus?  Let me know :)  When we realize that life is not about us we then we soon become content.

These are very nice huts.  4 walls made of mud, the roof it thatched and the cooking is done outside over a fire pit.  The floor of the huts are sand. 

This young mother and her baby have AIDS.  Though smiling she will not see the end of 2013.

This is 'it' for a toy.  It was hand made, he was content and he was very proud to show us what he made.

This a mother shopping.  These clothes are our castoffs.  Castoffs from Good Will, Salvation Army and such.

 

After harvesting his crop, he must sell it to earn his wage.