Once again it’s the evening of Thanksgiving Day. I’m sitting here thinking about all that I have to be thankful for and I couldn’t name it all if I tried or if time allowed. I’m blessed with more than I or anyone else deserves. I had a huge breakfast with my husband’s family this morning complete with bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits, white gravy, chocolate gravy, hash brown casserole, and I’m sure something I’m forgetting. We spent several hours visiting with family and catching up on who’s doing what, talking about how much the kids have grown and how old we are all getting. Too soon, everyone is leaving to be on their way to the next family gathering where there’s even more deliciousness to consume and we do it all over again, at least one more time.   More food than any one person should ever consume in one day. That’s the traditional Thanksgiving Day as we American’s know it, right?

It makes me think of a sermon recently preached at my church on contentment. Are we really content with what we have? And if we say that we are, why are we always trying to obtain more?  1 Timothy 6:6-10 says that we brought nothing into this world and that we’ll take nothing when we leave. It also says that if we have food and covering that we should be content, that the love of money is the root of many evils. I found this sermon to be so self-satisfying and yet so condemning at the same time.  That’s usually how I am at church. I’m sitting there thinking “That’s right, Brother Jeff, preach it!”.  And then the very next sentence out of his mouth makes me so ashamed of myself, I could crawl under the pew. I think that’s how God gets our attention.  When we think we have it all figured out, He reminds us that we do not.

We are so busy in this life trying to get ahead, trying to get more stuff instead of trying to help our fellow man. We try to build our bank account when it’s only going to be left here for our children or someone else to squander away when we die. We don’t stop and think about how many people we could help. Sometimes it takes very little to help someone a lot. A smile or a kind word goes a long way. A few dollars to the new guy at work for lunch until he can get a pay check. A meal for the single mother next door and her children.  We work a lot of overtime to get a comma in our paycheck and never consider upping our giving at church. It’s a great thing to be able to earn a good wage. It’s a greater thing to be able to give it.  Being content with what we have makes the money seem less important than before. It makes it easier to share with those in need. And along with sharing the money, we should share God’s Word. It’s a free gift that we can give to anyone we meet.

I guess my blog today is just simply a challenge to all of you. Try to live a simple life. Share what you have with others. Love your fellow man more than yourself. And most of all, give thanks to God for all things. He is good all the time.