A Thank You

This past week contained many many many things to be thankful for. Much was said about it all, I'm sure. The social media sphere was teeming with pictures of dinners eaten with family and friends amid joy, love, and doubtless arguments which came up over dinner.

For my family, there was even more to be thankful for. Not only did we have the pleasure of enjoying this great American feast together, but then we gathered back together days later to pray and celebrate at a family wedding.

For me, there was even more to be thankful for, as the week contained reunions with multiple people whom I haven't seen in far too long.

For everyone in my generation, these last couple days have brought something else to be thankful for, as it was officially announced that Girl Meets World would be happening (while much less serious, this story absolutely needed to be mentioned here).

All of this and so much more got me to thinking-what does it mean to be thankful? Why are we truly grateful? Much has been said on this by many people smarter than me, but I thought I'd write out a couple of thoughts anyway.

It seems in many ways in today's society that Thanksgiving is a one-day thing which is purely there to eat too much food in order to have the energy to spend a lot of money we don't have the next day. Don't get me wrong, I don't just want to bash on modern culture. Sales are good, there is no problem with Black Friday shopping as is. What is a problem, though, is a mentality that we don't need to give thanks every day.

And so, for me, it means this: every single day when I wake up I need to take time to realize that the God who breathed the stars into existence (Psalm 33:6) and holds all life in place (Colossians 1:17) has decided that for one more day I should wake up and enjoy His marvelous creation. This is one more day that I have been given to love, to serve, to follow. This is one more day where I have a chance to truly live, to truly be thankful because without the love of God I would: a. truly not exist but even if I did somehow exist b. my life would be pointless. Don't misunderstand that-there are a lot of good things in this world, and life itself is a wonderful gift, but this gift comes THE gift-giver. The One who gives life to all things in the universe is the same one who came down and died for me, and every day I have the chance to behold His creation, and not only that but I also have the most amazing privilege of coming into relationship with Him and even receiving His very flesh and blood in the Eucharist.

So yeah, there are some things I am thankful for. I simply pray for the grace to remember every day how truly grateful I need to be.