A Week of Thankfulness!

This week was not only Thanksgiving, but also marked our 6 month anniversary of moving to Hawaii!

Looking back on all the uncertainty, and risks we took we are very thankful for God's guidance through it all. During the holiday season, its important to not let it pass us by. We shouldn't be "down" about not being able to go home for Thanksgiving/Christmas, rather we should appreciate this time and make up some new holiday traditions with friends. Does it make it easy to be gone from our family and friends, NO! But we can see how God has placed some amazing people in our lives over the past 6 months to spend the holidays with.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with some of our small group friends and met some new ones. we ate some amazing Turkey with all the trimmings and played some Apples to Apples.

It didn't feel like thanksgiving normally feels. We didn't see our immediate and extended families, didn't feel the brisk air and the need for scarves wrapped tightly around our necks. But we felt thankful. Maybe even more thankful than we have in the past. Thankful for loving families and holiday traditions to miss.

BUT
How can we do anything but praise and thank you God for all you have done for us and blessed us with?

 We had a great thanksgiving sermon last week that I have thought about a lot lately.
 
1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for YOU."

Here are some good reminders that Pastor Dan brought up on Sunday:

1) One must CHOOSE to be thankful.

2) How thankful we are determines the amount of joy and fulless we will have in life.

3) We are called to be Thankful in all things and not for all things.

4) We tend to think we deserve it all. If we don't get it all we are unthankful or view God as mean and unloving. If we think all opportunities/things should be ours, then we think God is not giving us what we need. But was it really a need  in the first place? Or just a want?

So in all circumstance we are called to be thankful. Thankful whether we are far away from family or close during the holidays. Thankful for the opportunities and jobs we have been given, even if we had a bad day at work. Thankful for having a house to clean, dishes to wash, and bills to pay. For all these things point to the many blessings in our lives.

God is using all these things to mold us into who HE wants us to be. It may not be easy and it may not be the way we want things to be done, but HE know what's best.

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving~

 Janell