Life’s too short for bland living: Season your days with thanksgiving

Last year, I wrote something about our little turkey, I’m sure. We were a whole month and some change home from the hospital. It was his first turkey day!

And boy were we going through it as a brand new mama and daddy! With colic, fear of RSV and figuring out the new parenting thing... it was almost paralyzing. Then add in my people pleasing and PPD… sheesh!

But, you know what, we’re a whole year wiser this time (and crazier too).

Here’s what I’ve learned: Thanksgiving isn’t just a day. It’s an attitude.

And we should have a feast everyday. I mean… we should have a life filled with thanksgiving everyday.

Thankful attitudes and smiling faces… and I mean good food is good too.

The Bible says something about seasoning your speech with salt.

And I know what you’re thinking. But, no that doesn’t mean being salty and cursing like a sailor!

It means good things, talking about good things.

Have conversations about the good. Hey, about things that you are thankful for, even!

The Bible also talks a lot about the power of the tongue and how we have to control it. It gives us imagery of a bit in a horses’ mouth. Have you ever been that horse that ended up going where you didn’t want to go because of your mouth or your unbridled speech? We’ve all been there.

I think so many people are walking around living unseasoned, bland and thankless lives because their speech and their minds are filled with negativity, gossip and strife.

So, Jess, you ask, how do I life a life of thanksgiving?

Have you seen the political climate?

It appears that we are not  loving others well if they don’t think like us, look like us, or believe like us. It appears in the USA that we are having a lot of conversations seasoned with strife, hatred, and animosity.

Yes it does, my friend. And yes, it is troubling.

But, we know in this world we will have trouble.

God promises us that, but He also promises to comfort us with the Holy Spirit and that He will never leave us.

We are to fix our minds on what’s beyond this life: eternal peace. And isn’t that something to be thankful for everyday?

As we navigate this crazy world we can still live with thankfulness and we can even still be loving! What a radical thought!

The recipe for thanksgiving is simple.

Trust in God because He has overcome the world. Believe in Him and follow Him genuinely in spirit and in truth (not just speech but with actions) and know that His blessings far outweigh our sufferings.

Thank You, God, for Your promises found in Your word. Your mercies are new every morning and they truly endure!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, dear reader! May God abundantly bless you this year and in all your years to come!

Daily Bread

Colossians 4:6

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Proverbs 18:21

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

James 3:3–6

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 14:16–18

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Isaiah 26:3

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Lamentations 3:22–23

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Psalm 103:2

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—