Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18


Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6

Give thanks? Are you nuts? I want to give up and you want me to give thanks? For what?

Chances are that you’ve been dreading the holidays ever since the holidays were over last year. Times when families gather is supposed to be wonderful, joyous and enjoyable, but when you are struggling with infertility, the last thing you want to see is all those relatives dragging in diaper bags and the newest pictures of their little darlings. You’ve cried. You’ve prayed. You’ve hidden in closets so you don’t have to ooh and aah over the latest addition to the Thanksgiving celebration. What do you have to be thankful for?

What do you have to be thankful for?

It’s so easy to get totally consumed in your quest for a child that you forget that you truly are blessed. It’s such a vicious cycle! We get bad news and we obsess on what’s not right in our lives. The more we ponder what’s wrong, the less able we are to focus on what’s right. We get down and begin the cycle over again by obsessing on what’s wrong.

Let’s look at what’s right! God is blessing us in ways we may not think about. Here are some ideas to get you started:

With the exception of our fertility issues, most of us have healthy bodies. Few of us are attached to an oxygen mask. Let’s give thanks for the systems of our bodies that work right. 

Most of us have at least some family members and friends who love us, even if they don’t understand our fight. Even if they say stupid or hurtful things, we know they love us. Give thanks for your family and friends. 

We are blessed financially, even in the midst of tough economic times. Those of us in the United States live in the richest nation in the world. Even if you struggle financially, you have a roof over your head. None of us will starve before morning. Let’s give thanks for our finances. 

We live in the greatest country in the world. Whether you agree with how things are run or not, you live every day in freedom. When we attend mass, church services or support groups run by Christian organizations, we don’t hover in fear of someone coming in to blow our brains out. Let’s thank God for freedom!

God’s blessings are upon us! Tomorrow we’ll look at how God blesses us in the spiritual realm.