Giving Thanks

As we head into the holiday season, this is when I really think and feel with every ounce in my body, that “this is the most wonderful time of the year”. I love the dreary, cold, overcast skies of Houston (welcome to our winter), the opportunity to wear a jacket (at least in the mornings and evenings), the holiday decorations and Christmas music playing in all of the stores (and the gift shopping that goes along with it), the gobs of family time, the extra spiritual tug at my heart, and the feeling that every day is just kinda special in its own way. Each day after Thanksgiving, and until I go back to work after Christmas and the New Year, is like a holiday to me. There’s just a certain feel about it. And sometimes I have to remind myself that I do actually have to work!

Everyone is anticipating the celebration of Christmas in their own individual way. Some spend it at church, at every opportunity, to remember and celebrate the birth of their Savior. Some travel countless miles to spend it with family and others that they love. Some stay close at home, because that’s the most important place to them. Some travel the world to immerse themselves in Christmas traditions in another country. But regardless, people just seem to be more friendly, less impatient, more gracious, and it just seems wrong to be in a foul mood or get upset with someone during this time of the year.

I truly feel that Christmas has become far too commercialized and secular, but if it brings the world together, even for a split second – if it makes us all one big happy family, then for that split second, it might just be ok. I mean, at what other time of the year is it ok to drive around Houston with a wreath attached to the front grill of your truck? Or antlers hanging off of your antenna? :-)

This is why I had such a hard time celebrating the holidays in Australia. First of all, there was no Thanksgiving to kick off the season. But the larger problem for me, was that it was smack dab in the middle of summer. How wrong is that? Why is it ok for Santa Claus to ride a jet ski instead of a sleigh? Why is it ok to have a barbecue on the beach Christmas Day in your bathing suit instead of sitting in front of a fireplace sipping hot chocolate and bundled up in a cozy blanket? Well, I’m not knocking the Southern Hemisphere at all, it was just hard to get into the spirit of Christmas down there. My body was programmed for things to happen a certain way, and that certainly wasn’t it!

This is also the time of year that I sit back and reflect, and become more aware and thankful for the many blessings that I have in my life. Small ones, big ones, ones that I’ll never realize are actually blessings, and ones that I’ve been thankful for my entire life.

Talking about this reminds me of the one year in Australia that another American and I made a Thanksgiving feast for our Aussie friends. We raided the USA Foods Store in Melbourne to get the key ingredients, and then improvised with whole chickens instead of turkey (it’s super expensive to get a whole turkey down there). Everyone played along and was very much looking forward to the feast ahead of them. And then I told them that it was tradition in some families in America to go around the table at Thanksgiving and tell everyone what you were thankful for. I envisioned the Aussies making this a game, or humorous in some way, because that’s what they are so good at. But, I was pleasantly surprised when they actually took it seriously. You see, people are always open to the opportunity to tell others what’s important to them.

So, as we sat around that table in Melbourne, in late November, in the middle of summer, and celebrated our American Thanksgiving, they got to listen to me tell them how thankful I was for them, my great friends who had become my family down in Oz, for my opportunity to even be living down there, and for the health and safety of my American family back home. And I got to listen to them talk about how thankful they were for all of the special people in their lives, and for the opportunity to engage themselves in this touching American tradition.

So, as another holiday season is just around the corner, it’s that time again – time to give thanks. I’m not going to list out everything that I am thankful for in this blog. That would be far too long a list and take up a lot of space. But, I will certainly spend extra time to remember all of my blessings and say some extra prayers for all of the special people in my life. And I encourage you at some point this week and throughout the holiday season, as we gear up for hours upon hours of family time, food, football, and shopping, to sit back and reflect on the many blessings in your life. Because this truly is “the most wonderful time of the year”. Happy Thanksgiving!