They came like chicken pox. First one, then two, then bam! They were everywhere. The Facebook statuses of my friends showed one after another: “30 Days of Thanks, Day 1:” followed by something they were thankful for. From spouses, children, and jobs, to homes and morning coffee.

I, on the other hand, woke up November 1st and said “Huh. Maybe I’ll post something I’m thankful for every day instead of just on Thanksgiving.” Of course there was no rhyme or reason to it. No predetermined end-date like they all had. Just a 6:00 am thought that I should extend my period of thanks for awhile.

I started with “Day 1: Today I am thankful for…”, figuring I would go til Thanksgiving day. Somewhere around day 9 or 10 – oh look! A squirrel! – I lost the day number and just began my posts with “Today I am thankful for…” Then, somewhere around Thanksgiving Day, I decided maybe I
wasn’t done posting. But I got distracted… was I supposed to go through Thanksgiving? Or November 30th? – oh look! A squirrel! – who really knew the etiquette rules anyway? Is there any such thing?  Since I’d stopped numbering them maybe no one would notice that I’d skipped a day. Okay, maybe two. It’s not that I wasn’t thankful on the days I didn’t post. It’s just that on those days I’d chosen to give my thanks quietly and purposefully to God himself… rather than – Surprise! Look what I’m thankful for today, God! – waiting for Him to read as I typed it on Facebook.

Some people take posts on Facebook as a prideful, “showing out” kind of thing. For others, they truly are thankful, and can’t help but tell the world about it. Either way, the bible says we are to share with others what we’re thankful for, and Facebook – or any internet medium – is a great way to do this. 1 Chronicles 16:8 says “Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!”

Telling others about the things we are thankful for serves two purposes is our lives.  First, it allows us to recognize the blessings we can see, reminds us of what we have been given and forces us to quiet our complaints long enough to be grateful for those blessings.  A word of praise and thanks for even just a moment thwarts satan’s evil schemes if only for a moment, and we cannot speak praise and complaint in the same breath.  Second, I think when we proclaim our own things that we are thankful for, others take note, and may even pause for a moment themselves to consider their own lives.

But it begs the question – for those that did post 30 days of thanks, are they thankful the rest of the year as well? Does their life – does MY life – reflect December through October what I say I’m thankful for in November?  I hope so.  I hope my life is transparent enough to others that they can see where my alliance lies.  As for 22 – or 30 – days of thanks, I would like to think that God is pleased whenever we thank him for our blessings – whether it’s in the still of the night, one random Tuesday in March, or if it’s 30 consecutive days in November, simply because it is a purposeful act of recognition for Him.

Think about it – when you do something nice for someone, don’t you love it when they say thank you? What if they didn’t say thank you? Ever? Would you still continue to do something thankless? Maybe. But isn’t it nicer when your spouse, your coworkers, your children do give thanks? Our God is the same way. He loves to bless us, and his mercies are new every morning. But I’m 100% sure that when we thank Him for His provision – no matter the time of day or year, He has a desire to do even more for us, just because He loves us.

And for that love, more than any of the other 22 or 23 things I am thankful for, is what I am most thankful for.

XOXO
~Karen