GRATITUDE

Today is Thanksgiving. On this day American culture would have you believe you have to create the most Pinterest-worthy environment for as many people as could walk through your home between the hours of 1-8pm. The pictures show a perfectly roasted turkey with all the trimmings, large numbers of people with smiles on their faces and mugs of hot beverages in their hands. Sweaters, scarfs, and all things fall - pumpkins, gourds, maple leaves, twiggy trees, apples, cloves, etc.

Is this picture acceptable? Certainly, if you are the kind of person that loves cultivating it, nurturing it, preparing it, cleaning up after it.

But what if you're not that person? Is there still space for you this day? Yes, yes there is. How do I know? Because I am this person... the person who does not thrive in the Thanksgiving chaos, despite being an extrovert. Hospitality, as pictured in the William Sonoma catalog, is not a gift I possess. I love having people over, in small numbers, so that I can spend intentional time with them. I love encouraging people to kick off their shoes, snuggle up on my couch, and invite them to partake of the refrigerator rights they obtain just by walking through my front door. I love to focus my attention on the person instead of multi-tasking and giving them less than my full attention.
The images below are not intended for comparison... they are meant to show two very different ways of celebrating a day geared toward thankfulness.

Them...

Me...

Gratitude isn't about keeping up with the Joneses. It is the posture of surveying what you have, Pinterest fails and all, and still finding something to be grateful for. Gratitude walks hand in hand with ​perspective. ​

So, if you are a Pinterest-perfect person, be grateful for the artfulness you embody and the way you can share beauty with others.
If you a Pineterst-fail person, like me, be grateful that your worth is not found in your artistic abilities.
There is no one right way to do Thanksgiving. Your way is just fine. Do not spend one moment comparing yourself or your decor to another... that is apples to oranges and serves no one well.

All people, be grateful for what you have. Not only because there is always someone else dreaming, praying, wishing for you have but because a grateful heart will have joy and not merely fleeting happiness.

1 Thessalonions 5:18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances;
​for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.