What is true thankfulness

It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated to the focus of being thankful. This time of year can give us that warm, fuzzy feeling when we spend time feeling thankful for the things our lives include.

Everyone wants to be pleased and relieved. We may feel thankful for their presence in our lives, and happy that everyone is well since the last gathering. Veltman 2 Mrs. Doezema 21 Mrs. Kregel 1 Mrs. Leon Kamps 2 Mrs. Louis Kamps 1 Mrs. Kroondyk 13 Mrs. Dykstra 1 Mrs. Peter Tamminga 1 Mrs. Brouwer 1 Mrs. Decker 1 Mrs. Huizenga 1 Mrs. Huizinga 1 Mrs. Meyer 1 Mrs. Peterson 1 Mrs. Reitsma 1 Mrs. Feenstra 1 Mrs. De Boer 1 Mrs. Rhoda 1 Mrs. Trice 1 Mrs. Vivian Hunter 1 Mrs.

Doezema 1 Myrna Westra 1 N. Engelsma 60 Prof. Douglas Kuiper 1 Prof. Hoeksema 23 Prof. Hanko 97 Prof. Hanko 2 Prof. Cammenga 3 Prof. Decker 21 Prof. Dykstra 5 r 0 R. A Mulder 7 Rev. Brummel 6 Rev. Cammenga 5 Rev. Den Hartog 9 Rev. Lanning 5 Rev. Mulder 1 Rev. Petter 16 Rev. Spriensma 5 Rev. Stewart 20 Rev. Davis 5 Rev. Gritters 15 Rev. Huizinga 8 Rev. Kok 12 Rev. Woudenberg 20 Rev. Griess 5 Rev. Haak 7 Rev. Hanko Rev. Harbach 1 Rev. Spronk 1 Rev.

Terpstra 17 Rev. Engelsma 21 Rev. Holstege 5 Rev. Jonker 1 Rev. Kleyn 8 Rev. Kuiper 24 Rev. Lee 4 Rev. Noorman 1 Rev. Overway 4 Rev. Small 2 Rev. Kuiper 9 Rev. Doug Kuiper 13 Rev. Emmanuel 2 Rev. Guichelaar 3 Rev. Knott 1 Rev. Eriks 7 Rev.

Hutton 1 Rev. Lanting 2 Rev. Lubbers Rev. Van Baren 60 Rev. Vanden Berg 93 Rev. Vos 10 Rev. Ophoff 29 Rev. Bleyenberg 6 Rev. Hoeksema 34 Rev. De Wolf 33 Rev. Hanko 53 Rev. Hoeksema 63 Rev. Kuiper 3 Rev. Vander Ploeg 1 Rev. Veldman 28 Rev. Alvarez Leon 1 Rev. Blankespoor 20 Rev. DeJong 5 Rev. Engelsma 5 Rev. Heys Rev. Holstege 1 Rev.

Howerzyl 11 Rev. Kortering 24 Rev. Langerak 1 Rev. Laning 25 Rev. Mahtani 10 Rev. Marcus 3 Rev. McCollam 10 Rev. Slopsema 16 Rev. Smith 1 Rev. Van Weelden 4 Rev. Jai Mahtani 1 Rev. Brown 1 Rev. Koole 11 Rev. Doezema 71 Rev. Trinidad 1 Rev. Vermeer 15 Rev. De Boer 1 Rev. De Vries 8 Rev. Dick 4 Rev. A heart of thankfulness comes from one simple word— perspective.

Loss makes us grateful for blessings we would otherwise overlook. Of course, the familiar and arduous Mayflower voyage was exceeded only by the bitter winter the Pilgrims endured after landing at Plymouth Rock. After their terrible losses, they reaped such a bountiful harvest in that they chose to offer a week-long celebration in thanks to the Lord.

For them, the first Thanksgiving came after a time of heart-wrenching loss. It seems ironic and even wrong at first. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. Loss cultivates thankfulness for our blessings. And perspective can occur at any moment:. We can even find reason to thank God in spite of those things He takes from us we will never get back. Matthew Henry, the Bible commentator, fell prey to robbers one day.

That evening he made the following entry in his diary:. Let me be thankful—First, because I was never robbed before. Second, because although they took my wallet they did not take my life.