A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

I got sucked into a blog today. It is written by a woman who found out that her baby's heart had formed outside of her little body at her 11 week ultrasound. She made a choice to carry the baby to term, and the baby was born recently and did not survive. It broke my heart. Now, I have a dual monitor at work, and I was reading the blog on one side while Jule's sweet smile stared at me from the other. It made me feel so grateful that he is here...basically healthy and full of life. With all the fertility and pregnancy complications we had, we have two living children to show for it...and it is all by the Grace of God!

I know that I am human and that those feelings will dim as I'm attempting to comfort my screaming child in the 3rd hour of a 9-hour crying marathon. It's not that I don't love him, and it's not that I'm ungrateful for him at times like that, but it is HARD to FEEL joyful and thankful in those moments. My heart beats for him, but the screaming tests me to what feels beyond my human ability to cope.

I decided to look up "thanksgiving" in the Bible, and I noticed that there are a number of times that it is coupled with the word "sacrifice." So, obviously, it's not always easy to be thankful. What is important is that we offer the sacrifice in the times that it is not easy. It can be coupled with a "sacrifice of praise." It is so important to not let our feelings rule us because they are just that...feelings. They are so undependable and fleeting. Our choice to sacrifice in the hard times will not go unnoticed in God's eyes. It is so easy to praise Him and thank Him when things are going well, when the economy is flourishing, when our children are happy, when things are going the way we want them to...of course our feelings are going to comply. It is a whole different matter to praise and thank Him when we are in a seeming bottomless pit, when all we want to do is cry our eyes out. I believe that, in that sacrifice, His hand is reaching to us to hold us, to lift us up.

It is my goal to always, always be thankful for what God has given me and to also thank Him in every situation. I don't have to thank Him FOR every situation, but I can be thankful IN every situation.

I Thessalonians 5:18 "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."