Today is a day when we celebrate our blessings and reflect on all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for. It’s a good thing to stop and express our gratitude — we all have much to be thankful for.
However, some of you are probably really struggling this Thanksgiving. Maybe your spouse recently left you, or your child has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, or you are battling an addiction, or your finances feel like they are in shambles and you are just digging yourself into a deeper hole because of unemployment and ever-mounting bills.
Life is hard and messy sometimes — and just because it’s Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that the pain and burdens are lifted.
If you are struggling today, I want you to know that you are not alone. You are not the only one. And you are going to make it through.
Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose hope.
And I want to encourage you to do two things:
- Look for something to be grateful for. It might feel like you have to look really hard, but I think that if you start to look for something to be grateful for, you will find it. (And it could be something simple like clean drinking water or clean clothes to wear or a roof over your head or running water or a bathroom in your house… when we were in India last week, I was reminded just how many people don’t have access to basic things like this that we so easily take for granted.)
- Find someone to show love to. When we focus our energy on loving and blessing those around us, we are blessed in return and our heavy spirits will likely be lifted up, too!
Also, if you are struggling today, I’d love to pray for you. Just leave a comment on this post or send me an email and I will stop and pray for you by name. Because I want you to know that you are seen. You are not alone. You matter.
A Heartfelt Word of Thanks to Each of You
I also wanted to take a moment to thank you to each of you for everything you mean to me and how you bless me on a daily basis by reading here.
Thank you for your kind words. Thank you for being faithful readers. Thank you for commenting and emailing.
Thank you for sending in suggestions, telling your friends, subscribing to the podcast, and buying my books and courses. Thank you for the way you constantly encourage and cheerlead me.
From the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful for you.
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