Thanksgiving....some random thoughts

I personally do not have a lot of memories as a child that surround Thansgiving. I know that we spent the holiday with family, but for some reason, none of them stick in my mind. One Thanksgiving I do remember is the very first one Dave and I were married in 1985. We spent the day with his family, and I was horrified, that instead of waiting for people to pass food to him, he stood up and reached across the table. Obviously they were all used to it. No one else was horrified.
Over the years we have spent Thanksgiving with Dave's family and we would go to my grandmother's on Christmas. But life changes, every day and every year. As our own kids got older, we wanted a tradition in our home, so about ten years ago we started staying home on Christmas day.
But this post is about Thanksgiving. I am not an overtly sentimental person, so we do not do the whole "what are you thankful for" tradition. I truly believe that every day should be a day we are thankful. We have so much! Even the poorest in America have abundance compared to people in third world countries.
Another thing I have found is a grateful heart, is rarely a grumbling heart. When we are thankful and grateful for all we have, we tend to not focus on the things we don't have.
That being said, I have to say that OBVIOUSLY God had a reason for telling us to give thanks in every thing.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 

A thankful heart is not centered upon us, but on the giver of all things, our heavenly Father. Today take time to give thanks for your many blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving

~Cindy~