Ready, set, go...

Ready, set, go....

I am thankful for my..

family,

friends,

home,

school,

opportunities,

travels,

churches,

experiences,

safety,

life...

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year ahead, most of us are or have reflected on all the blessings in our lives.    Whether we are thankful for time with family and friends or from giving and receiving gifts.   But why are we blessed and how do we know that what we have is something to be thankful for?

What triggers your heart of gratitude?  Is it the size or cost of the present, the length of time committed with you, the words expressed to and about you, the things done for you, or is it the heart, face, eyes, person behind the giving that creates the appreciation?

What motivates your thanksgiving?  A desire for more, a cultural obligation to express thanks or the realization that you are unworthy of the gift given?

In our thanksgiving we know that we have something others do not, but are we actually thinking of them?  The ones without the things we consider precious.  Or are we just using them as a measure of why we are so blessed...? 

I've been hit this year, hit with my lack of action to help those who are in need.  Don't I want others to experience the joy in the blessings I have been given? 

We are blessed to be a blessing.

I have not been blessing...

My heart is heavy and while I know that no actions I take can bring me salvation, I long to share with those who so often go without.  

Without

a table full of food surrounded by faces full of love,

a father and mother to kiss them goodnight,

a present to find them in the morning, 

a friend to help them up

a blanket to keep them warm..

Some may be rich, some may be poor...

I want to stop only thinking of them as the people who make me realize I am blessed and turn them into the people I get to share in my blessing with.

Because I am not better than them in any way, shape or form and they too deserve the joys of giving and receiving.  If I refrain from sharing, I believe I am in fact worse because I am letting my pride and materialism get in the way of being God's hands and feet here on this earth.

"Father,  I am so selfish and weak.  Forgive me for thinking I should do something, but not taking the actions to do it.  Provide the opportunities and the vision on how to share all that you have blessed me with with those who have gone with out.  Do not let my selfish pride get in the way of You using me.  Send your Spirit to give me the words you want to share and the wisdom in what to do. I am blindly following this burden on my heart.  Give me guidance Lord.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your plan.  Thank you for all you provide.  I am amazed at your goodness, your sacrifice, your love.  Thank you for causing me to desire to love the way you do.  Thank you for opening my eyes and changing my heart.  Do not let this fire inside me die out before actions are taken, Father.  Praise you.  In your son, Jesus', name I pray.  Amen."

"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

-Hebrews 13:16