It takes wealth to celebrate at this time of year!

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Doesn’t it feel that way?  From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, it takes a small fortune to have the celebrations so many of us want.  I’m not an exception.

Patty (my wife and brilliant editor) and I save all year for this time of year.  We buy multiple turkeys (we like eating turkey throughout the year) and a ham.  I’ll be slow roasting a turkey.  Patty will make her secret family recipes I LOVE to eat.  And that’s just one day!

But it can feel like you need a second job just to keep up with the cards, food, parties, feasts, and gifts this season expects from us.  With all the holiday stress, giving thanks can be the furthest thing from our minds!

We’re not the only ones to struggle through this feeling.  We’re reminded by James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, of this in James 1:16-18:

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James 1:16-18
New International Version

Few of us deny the good stuff of life that comes from the Lord.  What about the bad stuff?  What do we do when there is more celebration than money?  What do we do when the “Christmas gift fund” is $0 and we’re not even in December yet?  What do we express when we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner?

I have a suggestion for tomorrow to help with this: look at your cup.  Whether it’s ornate or a Dixie cup, look at it.

That cup is your life.

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They say an optimist sees the cup as half-full.  If that cup is your life and you’re an optimist, then your life is half-full.  That’s pretty good! 

A pessimist sees the cup as half-empty.  If that cup at your table is your life and you’re a pessimist, then your life is half-empty.  That’s not so good.

As a Christian, however, the answer does not lie in either pole.  Instead, we are thankful we have a cup.  We are thankful for our life.  We are thankful we are His children.  We are thankful we have a reason to sing: our salvation and home in heaven.

Tomorrow, look at your cup.  How is your cup?

Have a great Thanksgiving!