Hello everyone! 
Here in the USA today we're celebrating Thanksgiving Day, and I just wanted to take a moment and personally say how grateful I am for this site and for the opportunity to meet new friends. It has indeed been such a blessing and encouragement. Thank you for the fellowship!!
I know that 2019 has been a hard year for a lot of us, and so I wanted to share a devotional written by one of my favorite authors. I hope it will encourage and strengthen you in whatever season you're facing right now, as it did for me. Remember that God loves you and does care about every detail of your life, even when we are in a season where we might not feel like celebrating. We have so much to be thankful for!
There’s something about the push to be thankful that causes me to feel as though I need to force away the feelings of disappointment, despair, and depression. And what happens when the smell of the pumpkin spice craze triggers memories of the death of a loved one? There are seasons where thankfulness seems effortless and other times when I have to fight for thankfulness. God doesn’t intend for us to live separate from our feelings, but to bring our feelings to him. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The beautiful and the wretched.
This passage tells me that if God sees everything—my hurt, pain, disappointment—then I might as well be honest with him. It’s in my gut-level honesty that I find my way through to thankfulness. It’s when I want to hide my truest self that I remember Psalm 62:8, “Trust in him at all times, pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.”
But it’s normal to think we need to hide the depths of our disappointment and disillusionment from God. After all, he’s holy and righteous and sacrificed his son for us, so why would we burden him with our hard things? Because he cares and says to us, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
When thanksgiving feels impossible, let’s take our hearts to the gentle shepherd and let him help us wrestle through our reality. He never leaves us nor forsakes us, and nothing can separate us from his love.
Here in the USA today we're celebrating Thanksgiving Day, and I just wanted to take a moment and personally say how grateful I am for this site and for the opportunity to meet new friends. It has indeed been such a blessing and encouragement. Thank you for the fellowship!! I know that 2019 has been a hard year for a lot of us, and so I wanted to share a devotional written by one of my favorite authors. I hope it will encourage and strengthen you in whatever season you're facing right now, as it did for me. Remember that God loves you and does care about every detail of your life, even when we are in a season where we might not feel like celebrating. We have so much to be thankful for!
When Thanksgiving Seems Impossible
by Jessica Van Roekel
When we know loss or pain or unfulfilled hopes, thanksgiving feels impossible. And when we stand on the cusp of the holiday seasons all kinds of remembering happens. It feels like the Thanksgiving season seems to highlight our losses along with our blessings. It’s the time of year when memories that lay long-buried demand recognition, and when unfulfilled dreams that haunted our childhoods and chased us into our adulthood insist on attention.by Jessica Van Roekel
There’s something about the push to be thankful that causes me to feel as though I need to force away the feelings of disappointment, despair, and depression. And what happens when the smell of the pumpkin spice craze triggers memories of the death of a loved one? There are seasons where thankfulness seems effortless and other times when I have to fight for thankfulness. God doesn’t intend for us to live separate from our feelings, but to bring our feelings to him. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The beautiful and the wretched.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:12-16)
This passage tells me that if God sees everything—my hurt, pain, disappointment—then I might as well be honest with him. It’s in my gut-level honesty that I find my way through to thankfulness. It’s when I want to hide my truest self that I remember Psalm 62:8, “Trust in him at all times, pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.”
But it’s normal to think we need to hide the depths of our disappointment and disillusionment from God. After all, he’s holy and righteous and sacrificed his son for us, so why would we burden him with our hard things? Because he cares and says to us, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
When thanksgiving feels impossible, let’s take our hearts to the gentle shepherd and let him help us wrestle through our reality. He never leaves us nor forsakes us, and nothing can separate us from his love.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
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