Always Give Thanks

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

One of the things Tammy Heilemann shared on Sunday was that giving thanks helps to reorient us, giving us a different and sometimes larger perspective into what’s going on. Some people have called this switching from the little story to the big story (or from the lower story to the upper story). The idea is that God’s story is always going on and that sometimes our little lives get to feeling really complicated and disorienting, so stepping outside of our stories for a minute can help us reframe whatever is going on in our lives.

Giving thanks can be a key that unlocks a window to look out onto God’s bigger story. It’s not meant as form of denial, rather as a simple acknowledgement that even in the most difficult days God is still at work.

Today, if you have a way to set your watch to chime on the hour, do so. Take thirty seconds each hour to stop and say thank you, regardless of the situation you find yourself in. Feel free to name the pain, the doubt, the difficulty - and then take a deep breath (literally, breathing can be so helpful!) and give thanks for a couple of simple or deep or obvious things.