Thanksgiving and Praise

Thank you. Two simple words, yet they hold a weight of gratitude. When said with sincerity and a smile, we can change the tenor of someone’s day. They are an acknowledgement of good work, an act of seeing and praising.

In certain seasons of our lives, our work feels like a heavier burden than any gratitude could lift. We feel weighed down by to-dos or obligations that require more work than a day can hold. Others of us feel a sense of loss, and even filling our lungs with breath feels like more work than we can handle. Whatever the weight is that we carry, God sees us and still welcomes us with unfailing love.

At other times, it feels like we are the unending recipients of goodness. We are constantly met with the feeling of gratitude for God’s goodness and the valuable work of others in our lives. Our spirits are light and lifted. In those moments, it is much easier to enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and praise.

As family gathers and loved ones get the opportunity to spend extended time together, we must acknowledge that both these attitudes can fill the room. Neither is wrong, and both are welcome in the house of God. This dual acceptance is the marker of God’s faithfulness and love for each generation. No family is perfect. But God welcomes all through the gates and into the courts of a heavenly family, filled with love and gratitude.

In this season, we are reminded of the wonder that Jesus too was born into a family like ours—generation after generation filled with their own stories of burden and loss just as much as joy and celebration. Through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, our families and his are brought together by an act of love.

And so, no matter the circumstances that we find ourselves in, we can offer up all that we have and turn it into praise and thanksgiving. When we see the goodness in our own lives, we acknowledge God’s good work with gratitude. When the frenzy and fullness of the holidays make giving thanks difficult, God turns our gaze to the greatest gift of love we could ever receive: Jesus. And so we can channel our gratitude into praise, whether or not it comes easily in this season of our lives. For all of eternity, we will get to experience the goodness of God, who deserves every thank you from our lips. We join in the continual praise of generations of saints and angels forever and ever.

Even in the moments when we feel heavy, we are welcomed into the loving arms of God, who celebrates even our meager efforts by faithfully caring for us. Each celebration and feeling of joy brought to God is multiplied out of abundant love expressed for us as dearly cherished beings. Both expressions are welcomed by our Creator.

As we gather together, may we be reminded of God’s continual goodness as we spend time with those we love. And may our thank yous become more plentiful, as we reflect on God’s generational love with praise.

Thank you. Two simple words, yet they hold a weight of gratitude. When said with sincerity and a smile, we can change the tenor of someone’s day. They are an acknowledgement of good work, an act of seeing and praising.

In certain seasons of our lives, our work feels like a heavier burden than any gratitude could lift. We feel weighed down by to-dos or obligations that require more work than a day can hold. Others of us feel a sense of loss, and even filling our lungs with breath feels like more work than we can handle. Whatever the weight is that we carry, God sees us and still welcomes us with unfailing love.

At other times, it feels like we are the unending recipients of goodness. We are constantly met with the feeling of gratitude for God’s goodness and the valuable work of others in our lives. Our spirits are light and lifted. In those moments, it is much easier to enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and praise.

As family gathers and loved ones get the opportunity to spend extended time together, we must acknowledge that both these attitudes can fill the room. Neither is wrong, and both are welcome in the house of God. This dual acceptance is the marker of God’s faithfulness and love for each generation. No family is perfect. But God welcomes all through the gates and into the courts of a heavenly family, filled with love and gratitude.

In this season, we are reminded of the wonder that Jesus too was born into a family like ours—generation after generation filled with their own stories of burden and loss just as much as joy and celebration. Through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, our families and his are brought together by an act of love.

And so, no matter the circumstances that we find ourselves in, we can offer up all that we have and turn it into praise and thanksgiving. When we see the goodness in our own lives, we acknowledge God’s good work with gratitude. When the frenzy and fullness of the holidays make giving thanks difficult, God turns our gaze to the greatest gift of love we could ever receive: Jesus. And so we can channel our gratitude into praise, whether or not it comes easily in this season of our lives. For all of eternity, we will get to experience the goodness of God, who deserves every thank you from our lips. We join in the continual praise of generations of saints and angels forever and ever.

Even in the moments when we feel heavy, we are welcomed into the loving arms of God, who celebrates even our meager efforts by faithfully caring for us. Each celebration and feeling of joy brought to God is multiplied out of abundant love expressed for us as dearly cherished beings. Both expressions are welcomed by our Creator.

As we gather together, may we be reminded of God’s continual goodness as we spend time with those we love. And may our thank yous become more plentiful, as we reflect on God’s generational love with praise.