A Thankful Heart

This coming week we will be enjoying Thanksgiving. Family members will gather for food, fellowship, and festivities and believe me I will be right in the middle of the celebration. My children and grandbabies will be coming in from out of town and that makes any occasion one of thankfulness. However, when I think about it I am driven to ask, “What is it that we are to be thankful for?” While we sometimes grasp for the reason it gets much simpler when we respond out of contrast. For instance, I just returned from a mission’s trip to Haiti. This is an area that stands as the epitome of poverty. They only have 600 miles of paved road in the entire nation. Most of the people live in little shanties because the average wage for the country is somewhere between $250 to $600 per year. Their weekly ration consists of rice and potatoes and on very rare occasions they may enjoy just a small piece of meat. Yet they find a reason to be thankful. In comparison we live in nice homes, drive fancy cars, and often throw out more food than we consume. In the midst of blessing we find it hard to be thankful. A sense of entitlement has polluted our thinking to the point that we feel we deserve more than what we are already getting. So, how should we celebrate Thanksgiving? It is a given that we should be thankful for our forgiveness, our family, and our friends. But added to this we could start by being thankful that God allowed us to be born in America to parents that provided well for us; that we are able to bath in pure water without the threat of contracting infection or some disease; that we live in a nation where the potential for success is unlimited and the freedom to worship is experienced without restraint. When taking all things into consideration how can we not have a thankful heart?