When my kids were younger one of our thanksgiving traditions included hanging up a large piece of white butcher paper on our front door around the beginning of November. Over the course of the month we would list the people and things we were thankful for that year. There were always a few things you could count on making the list, things like: family, friends, God, church and our dog. As well as some frivolous things like coffee, chocolate and Dr. Pepper. It was a fun tradition, one that I kind of miss actually. As a mom it was always nice to see that one of your kids had added you the list without prompting!

With Thanksgiving being this week, I would expect to see my social media news feed filled with my friends and family sharing the things they are thankful for. This year however, I haven’t been seen nearly as many of those typical thanksgiving posts. Sure, this year has, well let’s just say it-it has sucked! All of us have lost someone or something that we love and was important to us. Whether those things are big or small, we all are keenly aware of our loss. But what about those things we haven’t lost? What about those things we’ve gained? What about the good that has been in this year? Have we become so consumed with our loss that our eyes can’t see the tremendous blessings right in front of us?

I believe if we refocus our attention and look up from what we perceive to be our problems, we can see more clearly. There is a short little story in Matthew 11:1-6 that I find helpful when times are tough. In this story we find John the Baptist in prison. This is probably not where he expected to be or how he thought his life would go. After all, he is John the Baptist, the one Isaiah spoke of when he said “A voice of one crying out-Prepare the way of the LORD..”. But there he sits in prison and he begins to wonder if he got it wrong, so he sends some of his followers to ask Jesus if “He is the one”. Jesus responds by saying “tell John what you see– the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the dead are raised” (my paraphrase). I just wonder how many of us are having these same exact thoughts, thinking “It’s not supposed to be this way, did I get it wrong?”.

What we focus on, what we choose to see matters! There is good and there has been good this year. I am not unlike anyone reading this- my family and I have lost much this year, but we have also been blessed with some pretty amazing people and things! Things like deeper friendships, second chances, new adventures and restored relationships. We have learned how many amazing things we have that we once took for granted, simple things like going to church, celebrating with one another, going to work and school, not wearing a stupid mask, etc. Despite all the loss, new things have begun as well-things like new babies, marriages, hobbies, loves, deeper walks with Jesus!

I am not making light of anyone’s loss, because I know there have been some major ones. I’ve been to the funerals, I’ve seen the hurt, I’ve cried more than ever. But what am I saying is that we have a choice, we get to choose what we focus on every single day. If you are reading this, then you have been given the gift of life and living. You can choose – am I going to live (I mean real, honest to goodness living) today or am I going to settle for simply being alive? We can choose to find joy and look for the good or we can choose to get stuck in the divisiveness and bitterness that is affecting our nation. We can choose to trust God and live with courage or to simply exist in fear. We can choose to live our lives with thankfulness and gratitude or to focus on what we don’t have or have lost.

Friends and family are a blessing that should not be taken for granted. Because if this year has shown us nothing its that’s life can be short and unexpected. We have so very much to be grateful for this year. God hasn’t forgotten us; we didn’t get it wrong-He is still God and still in absolute control. Just like John we might need encouragement or even to ask some hard questions at times, and that is okay. God is God, he can handle our questions and he will provide us with the encouragement we need. He will open our eyes and move our focus if we will simply ask.

I’m choosing to live, really live! I am choosing a life filled with joy, courage, and thankfulness. I am choosing a life surrounded by family and friends. I’m choosing to trust God! I hope you’ll join me.

Happy Thanksgiving!