As Christmas season officially begins now that Thanksgiving is over, I can already feel it happening. I can feel my heart drifting toward materialism as I make my Christmas wishlist and think about all of the gifts that I would love to receive. I love gifts. I love giving them, I love getting them. But sometimes I get greedy. And often, the best antidote for greed is gratitude. I need to consciously remember the MANY things I have to be thankful for. Things that are so familiar to me, things I haven't had to be without, things that many people in the world live without every single day.
I've heard it said, "Gratitude turns what we have into enough." If you are having a hard time finding things to be thankful for this season, I'm creating a list that I'm hoping will spur on a sort of contagious gratitude.
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1. Clean drinking water
2. Food.
And not JUST food for sustenance, but also the ability to go buy food at the grocery store and the luxury to purchase certain foods just because they "sound good."
3. A home
4. Electricity
To heat my home, make my water warm when I need it, turn on lights, and cook food.
5. Clothing
The luxury of opening my closet or drawers and asking, "What should I wear?" because I have multiple options.
6. A washer and dryer.
7. A toilet that flushes
8. Two cars
Not just one car, but two cars, for the "convenience."
9. People
Family that I love. Friends that I love. A church family that I love. A husband and a daughter.
10. Life
Breath. Heartbeat. And beyond that. . . Sight. Hearing. Functioning arms and legs. Heart. Brain. Fingers. Toes. Bones. Muscles.
These are the things I want to come back to on a daily basis. In the moments where my brain starts swirling with my wishlist, when my heart starts to bubble over with discontentment, these are the things I want to remember. The things I no longer want to take for granted. They are not small things, they are incredible, luxurious gifts to be massively thankful for.
