Thoughts of Thankfulness

Thanksgiving...it's one of my favorite days.  We get to be with friends and family, and the focus is being thankful. AND we get to eat delicious food.  It's like all the best things!
Thankfulness has been something that I feel like God started speaking to me about last year, and it has completely changed my life.  In a really good way...especially whilst living in a culture that is immersed in entitlement.
In the summer of 2012, we were coming out of a very challenging season in ministry.  We were pretty tired, and walking through some disappointment.  A friend challenged me to think of 5 things I was thankful for, very first thing every morning.  He said it would change everything.  I didn't believe him, but I thought I would try it anyway.  He was right.  To be honest...I didn't even do it every day.  To start out, I was lucky if I remembered 3x a week.  But God just kept reminding me, and pretty soon it was a habit.  Maybe 3 months in is when I started noticing my changed mindset and perspective.  My circumstances did not change...somethings actually got much harder...but there was this underlying joy that could not be shaken...it was Jesus.
 I can say now, that even though some things have continued to get harder, this last year and a half has been the absolute best time in ministry of our lives.  We have seen incredibly hard times and had to make really hard decisions, but we have seen incredible fruit as well...the types of things you dream of seeing.  And joy increases every day...whether it's a good day or a bad day.  And our family has grown closer than ever as we focus on being thankful, instead of on what we wish was different.
This is what I have learned.  Thankfulness takes our eyes off of ourselves and it acknowledges the good.  Human nature is filled with self pity and a victim mentality...that cannot exist in thankfulness.  Every time we say thank you we are acknowledging we got something we didn't deserve.  Thankfulness will break the back of the stronghold called entitlement in our lives.  Entitlement plagues our culture.  We love our rights here in America.  If there is one thing I have learned so far in studying the Bible and the life of Jesus...it is that he did NOT hold on to ANY right that he had. (just read Philippians SO challenging.)  Thankfulness will open the door to joy in your life, it dissolves our worries, and causes us to set our minds on the things of Christ.  It causes spiritual growth, and it is the only way we learn "to be content in plenty and in want", as the apostle Paul said.
These are just some of my random thoughts and part of my journey over the last year.  Who knew that something as simple as being thankful could be a catalyst for so much joy and growth? If you feel like you are in a funk, or stuck in a rut,  try this out...I don't think you'll be sorry that you did.   God is so incredibly faithful and good to us.
I'm especially thankful for this, I can't stop thinking about it today: "God shows his love for us in this: while we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 8:5