thankful.

by Claire


(my sixteen year old daughter :-)

I think that being thankful is meant to be more than just 

adding another sentence onto my prayer.



It's more than writing down a few things I like about my life 

and then forgetting about it until next Thanksgiving, 

or next Christmas.





It's a way of living life. 




And I think that when you do it all the way, 

no circumstance in your life can ever change 




how grateful you are to be alive. 

I know a few people who have this thing where they can be content 

wherever and with/without whatever. They'll just look at their life, 

their piles of good things and bad things 

and things they're not sure about yet 

and make sure to be thankful for all of it. 

And if you want, you can call that blind optimism or whatever, 

but I think it's wisdom. 




Cause those people are wise enough to recognize 

that even if the negative can hit a little harder than the positive, 

there are so many beautiful blessings placed into every life. 

And we don't deserve ANY OF THEM!

There is always a good thing that happened today, 

even if it's just that you survived.

And at the end of the day, the biggest gift ever is always Christ. 

So if I wanna be more like him, 

it has to start with an attitude change. 

I have to look at my life and, instead of seeing the things 

I think I'm missing, see the things I have.

  

I have to look at my pile of things and, instead of comparing it 

to the people around me, thank God that I have anything at all. 

I have to not only look at the things I have in my life, 

but look at who gave them to me. 

I have to start in my soul and slowly break that part of me 

that is always looking for the next best thing. 

The part of me that is never gonna be satisfied.

  






And I have to decide every day to let in a Savior 

who provides for me and, on top of that, cares about me. 

When I do that, my pile of good things 

becomes so much more significant than my pile of sucky things, 

even if it seemed smaller at first. 

Cause as soon as I start being thankful for Jesus, 

everything else falls into place.