Are You Thankful for Things You Don't Have?

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via Flickr
Thanksgiving always brings thoughts of blessings too numerous to count. Easily, I can identify what I have been so graciously given often without truly deserving these blessings. But it is what I did not get or what did not happen that perhaps makes me even more grateful.

So this Thanksgiving, I want to remember to thank God for the times He has spared me what could have been tragic news; for the illnesses that I didn't have, the financial ruin that did not come my way, the losses I have not experienced. I am grateful I have not lost a loved one in combat or a child before they were born.Thank you for the times you allowed me to avoid the accidents that could have happened, the mistakes that could have cost me more than I realized, the train wrecks that might have been. I am blessed to have avoided many catastrophes by the protection of an Almighty God.


Thank you for redirecting me from dysfunctional people and/or circumstances that would have left my life far different from the one I know. Thank you for your mercy when my judgments were poor and for your grace allowing outcomes brighter than I might have expected.  Thank you for not allowing abuse, intolerance or disrespect into my relationship with my spouse or children. I am grateful to have never known abandonment.


I am so very thankful that I do not know hunger or homelessness. Things so easily had by many; unemployment, long term illnesses, tragic events, separation from loved ones because of war or other circumstances were not mine to have. I am blessed that I do not have to wash in a public shelter, scavenge through garbage for my next meal or sleep under an overpass. You have kept famine, torture and violence from my daily routines. Yes, I am so grateful for the things that might have been; but for the grace of God.


How about you?  Can you offer a thanks for what you do not have to deal with? It is not what you have that is always the blessing but perhaps what you have avoided.

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

Image via WikipediaLately, I have been thinking about how our lives can change almost instantly because of circumstances beyond our control (pretty much everything). And I have been thinking about how different my life could be...there but for the grace...

I seem to miss what I should be the most grateful for because I am consumed worrying about what I haven't yet done or still don't have. It is far too easy to become cynical about what is missing rather than grateful for what there is.


Ever feel overwhelmed with parenthood and then hear about the family that has been trying for what must seem forever to conceive?
Image by lionheart539 via Flickr It's easy to complain about the cost of car maintenance but how inconvenient is it to have to wait for transportation in the rain and cold because you can't afford a car?


Some days it seems like there is no end to house repairs but few would trade a home for a public shelter where little more than a cot was a place to call home.


Did you ever complain about your job or going to work and then hear the stories of the countless individuals willing to work 2 or 3 jobs or more to get by in this economy?


I have been there, looking for the gold at the end of my rainbow many times only to realize that for some people a rainbow alone would be a blessing for all the storms they have had to face. It is a shaming realization of how easy it is to overlook a blessing whether it be a clean house or a clean conscience, finding a lost item or a lost relationship, having friends or having faith.


I might be thankful in the long run but I often overlook the blessings I take for granted. I'm not necessarily lucky, fortunate or all deserving...I am BLESSED, and what a shame to have so many blessings showered on me that I often become complacent and selfish just expecting the next one without much thought about what I already have.
Image via Wikipedia
So I have decided to keep a daily grateful journal; identifying one blessing I am grateful for daily that I may have taken too lightly or simply not really noticed at all. Perhaps it is a way for me to really think about what I complain about, don't have, still want, think I need, or take for granted. I hope so. It may be long overdue.


What about you? Do you find yourself noticing what you lack rather than the excess of what you have?
Have you noticed the negatives that so many others would find positive if only given the chance you have?


Maybe it's time for you to keep a daily grateful journal as well.


Look for mine on http://twitter.com/1moreserving

Image by scott.wolff via Flickr