Please don't stop being thankful

Momma's Log December 8, 2015 (Kwrp)

Thanksgiving was a couple weeks ago and , I have to tell you, I am just now coming out of my turkey induced coma.  Boy! I sure enjoyed indulging.  Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing.  Super Rock Star makes the BEST giblet gravy and pecan pie.  It was AWESOME!   Even though the food was amazing, being with family was great, and oh. my. goodness. whip cream--I absolutely adore the whip cream.  But,  my favorite part of Thanksgiving really is the focus on being thankful.  I LOVED reading everyone's lists on Facebook and those that did the 30 days of thankfulness posts throughout the month of November. In a time when everyone in our country seems to be so self focused and full of bitterness of what they DON'T have, it's refreshing to see folks expressing gratitude for what they do.

I'll be honest though, this last couple of weeks have been hard on me emotionally and being thankful is not at all how I have felt.  Normally, I'm a very sunny, the glass is half full kind of person.  But, with the multiple attacks that Paris suffered almost a month ago, the tragedy in my own home town of Colorado Springs on Black Friday , and the terror that happened in San Bernardino, CA my sunny disposition has quickly turned cloudy.   I'm the type of human that personalizes every tragedy that I read or hear about. I don't watch or read a lot of news for that exact reason. Super Rock Star worked in television news as a news anchor many moons ago and though I loved watching him do his thing on t.v., I sank to an all time low emotionally during that season simply because my brain cannot process the majority of the harsh reality going on in our world.  It's not that I want to ignore it.  It's not that I don't care.  I just simply cannot cope hearing about the constant despair of our human condition.  I know many of you are the same.  You hear about the dark things that happen and put yourself in the victim's shoes living out the horror they must be facing.  Here in Colorado Springs the 3 victims that lost their lives were all parents with kids and all I could think about was how 6 children were now facing a Christmas season and the rest of their lives without their beloved Daddy's and Mommy.   What is it about Christmas that makes it especially hard to handle?  The ache in my heart for those families that had made plans, purchased gifts, looked forward to moments together and they had all of their dreams crushed and destroyed by some very confused individuals that thought that the only way to their own personal fulfillment was to crush and devestate the lives of so many.

I think a great majority of us must be suffering through some feelings of grief over all the instability we have been overloaded with in the media the last few weeks.  My Facebook feed is no longer full of what folks are thankful for, instead I see a lot of folks talking about guns, our rights as citizens, our view of politics and opinions on what we should all be doing or thinking about all of these things.  It's kind of like we are all throwing a big tantrum right now whether it's crying, yelling, being snarky and sarcastic, or even picking fights on purpose.  Just like when my 8 year old screams out in all of his emotions that he hates something or someone--he doesn't really mean it.  He just needs to get it out.  As we grow up and even as we mature we still have a need to explode every once in a while.  Sometimes we just choose to do it in words on a page rather than screaming into a pillow (as I've been known to do a time or two).  A couple of years ago, I bought a punching bag for super rock star just in time for football season.  Any time our beloved Cowboys lost, he could go out and punch the bag.  Unfortunately, since this year has been such a dismal year for our team that punching bag is toast--yep, knocked to kingdom come.  But, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about.  We all have a need to decompress--to let it out--to explode--to scream and pound our fists when things are not going in the happy, peaceful way that we want them to.

So, once you've thrown your fit, had your 5 seconds on your soap box, and gotten all of that ugliness out there, what do you do?  Well, there is a cure for what ails you.  And it's something so many of us started back on November 1st.  Thankfulness.  Even though it's not November any more.  Even though some bad things have happened.  Even though you feel unstable about what tomorrow will bring.  Please don't stop being thankful.  There's an old hymn chorus that my Mom used to sing (at least it's her voice in my head I hear when I remember it)

Count your many blessings name them one by one.
Count your blessings see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

If you don't remember to be thankful--to count your blessings, bitterness and discontent will surely wedge in and destroy your view of everything that you have to be thankful for.  Be thankful that you still have lungs and a beating heart to draw breath another day.  Be thankful for the spouse that you have chosen and has chosen you. Be thankful for your little and big kids, and grand kids.  Be thankful for the roof over your head and the running water in your sink.  Be thankful for the fridge full of food.  Be thankful for the job you get to have that pays for all of the things you need and want.  And it's o.k. to also be thankful that you have been spared great tragedy like the ones I've mentioned.  Pray for those that are suffering.  Pray for those in need who do not have all that you do.  Ask God to show you how you can help. We all have things that make us grumble.  In John 16:33 it says "I have told you all these things so that you may have peace.  In this world you will have many troubles, but take heart! I have overcome the world."  Being thankful is the very antidote we all need when the ways of this world weigh so heavily upon us.
 
I've mentioned before that Super Rock Star works for an amazing organization called Compassion International.  If you don't know about them, I highly recommend you go check out their website www.compassioninternational.com.  There are so many ways they help children and their families in very dire circumstances every day.  I love the 1000's of stories I read about them but, one of my favorite is about a team from Compassion that was visiting a family's home in a village in Africa.  By all accounts this family was living in dismal conditions--straw and mud hut, mostly barren land, and no running water. But as the team was getting ready to leave they asked the father of the home how they could pray for him. His response?  "I have everything I need.  I have a roof over my head to protect me from the weather, I have a tree that bears fruit and provides food for my family and I have water to drink.  God is good."

As we enter this Christmas season--a time of year when we love to share and give and receive, I also encourage you to be remember to be thankful.  Just take a few minutes right now and right down 10 things you are thankful for.  Even  if life is hard right now--a job lost, a sickness in your family, an uncertain future. Even if all you can muster up is that you are thankful you don't have a big zit on your forehead right now.  Try to think of 10 things that you can thank God for.  And remember:  Yes, God is good!