Thankful Thursday

We really have so much to be thankful for, don't we? Even in "these" times (and can I just say that I am a little tired of the media always saying "these" times?), we still have it so easy. I just read a Reader's Digest article that featured people who have escaped to America from numerous countries. They escaped persecution and atrocities that most of us will never experience. And yet we complain. We complain about the economy, our jobs, our families. We complain that the church does this or that wrong, or that they are "not meeting our needs". We complain when those of us who live in Colorado are subjected to a spring snowstorm (guilty!). We complain if the gal at the coffee shop doesn't make our order just right, we complain about waiting in the line at the coffee shop. We complain when we don't make enough money to pay bills. We complain when we make too much money and Uncle Sam wants a chunk.

And yet, we've never had to hide in a bathroom. We've never lived in a forest for two weeks, alone, at 11 years old. We've never seen our family murdered in front of us. We've never had to literally run through jungles to escape rifle fire. We've never been put on a ship as a child and sent to a country where you don't speak the language to escape an evil regime, as my great-grandfather was. We've never tried to come home and been captured, imprisoned, and tortured simply for belonging to a certain group of people.

And so, this week, I will choose to be grateful, to be thankful. Thankful that I have a beautiful roof over my head, that my family is beside me. Thankful that I live in a country where I can still choose which church to attend, thankful for the church God has called me to. I will choose to be thankful for this economy, for the lessons it is teaching us, for the creativity and sense of community it is building. I will be grateful for the beautiful scenery that surrounds me daily. I will be thankful for the sweet people who graciously serve me throughout my day. I will be grateful for the opportunity to stand in line, for who knows what angels I may have the honor of entertaining! I will be thankful for my job, for my husband's job, thankful that we have jobs. I will be thankful for the bills we can pay, and thankful for the government that takes a portion to maintain our country. And, although this one is easy, I will be thankful for the friends who surround me, both physically and spiritual. Because, I know that without them, it would be much harder to be thankful.