You’ve heard of Christmas in July. Ah…but have you heard of Thanksgiving in January? Now that you’ve gotten past the setting or not setting of your New Year’s Resolutions, it’s time for you to rest and reflect upon just how far you’ve come in life. What are you truly thankful for and how can that propel you into your future full of internal happiness? If you try to do that based on a day, a week, or even a year, you will end up saying, “Oh, I’m thankful for my family, my house, my vehicle, my job,” but that’s not the half of it!
Beware, this is the time where you mosey on over to get a box of tissues. You should probably hide in your bedroom … behind locked doors, if you are usually the, “I’ve got it all together type!” Now, Let me take you on a journey many have never dared to go before! Buckle up, get comfortable, and here we go! No, no, no! I was wrong! Unbuckle, go get a pencil and paper (or a notebook), then return and buckle up! 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1—- Blast off!!!!
You Were Chosen
You are now mentally hovering above your mother as she is carrying you. You see your tiny self inside her protruding stomach. As fate would have it, you’re getting pretty uncomfortable, I must say. The doctor remarks, “It won’t be long now.” You have just spent eight and a half months in a life of luxury…no pain, plenty of food, warmth, and love. You are still so excited that God has chosen you for this life! Suddenly, you get this overpowering feeling that you really need to exit the area! You feel a warm, comforting touch to your shoulders as you continue to maneuver your way toward the unknown.
Beep! Beep! It’s time to stop and thank God for your mother who under difficult and uncomfortable circumstances, carried you. Thank him for choosing you to love and have a relationship with in this life!
You Arrived Successfully
Fast forward two weeks, follow along as you watch your mother struggle to manage the pain of every intense contraction. You hear her cry, scream, and call out, “Please, God help me!” Then, your mind is redirected to yourself, the infant inside. You’re astonished by the amount of pain you yourself endure, the strength and relentlessness you exhibit, and the bright light that seems to draw you into a new world. When all the darkness and warmth disappear, you cry out to retreat back into the womb! You did it! You miraculously came into this world!
Beep! Beep! It’s time to stop and thank God for helping your mother to survive a near death experience, just to have you in her life…you! Next, thank God that he gave you superpowers to internally comprehend what you must do to be born. Don’t forget to thank God for the family, friends, and medical personnel who stood close by with love and support. Thank him for choosing to love you!
Learning Basic Skills
Before you know it, your mind has traveled to the time you were learning to walk. Your mind movie is vividly clear. “Come on, come on,” you cry out to your little self, “You can do it! One step, two step, and then gravity takes over and you fall …over and over again. However, you keep watching because the fact that you can walk now proves that your going to witness it happen. Sure enough, soon those little feet, not only walk, but they begin to run! Ch-ch-ch-ch- your mind whisks to where you can watch your father begging, “Come on, please, I know you can do it! Say, “Daddy!” You hold back the tears as you watch your little mouth offer a wide grin and you begin to chant, “Da-da-da-da-da!”
Beep! Beep! It’s time to stop and thank God that he has given you the ability to walk and talk with everyone around you! You might also wanna throw in a “thank you” for your sight about right now because it’s been helpful in reading this blog!
Childhood
Next, your mind takes you to the first day of Daycare, Preschool, and/or Kindergarten. Different people experience different things in their childhood. For example, we start on the journey through life without our parents being right by our side when we start school. Go back in time once more to watch yourself walk into the classroom where you learn the alphabet, numbers, shapes, seasons, and eventually how to read! See if you can recall the friendships you made and the other things you experienced… like plays, crafts, aaaaannnnd of course recess! Watch as you swing high into the air. You didn’t have a thought in your head except, “this is sooooo fun!” You squealed and giggled. Life was easy. Even back at home, there were life experiences and fond memories of relatives, especially those who have passed on and friends that still warm your heart today.
Beep! Beep! It’s time to stop and thank God for all the childhood successes, struggles, and life experiences that he carried you through as a young child which has formed you into the person you are today! Pray for young friends that you remember who struggled through childhood. Chances are, they are still struggling today.
Middle/High School/College
Oh the heartbreaks, headaches, homework, and stress that you endured! However, they don’t even begin to compare with the blessings, mercy, and grace that God showered you with during this critical time period. Go back in time once more now and try to see yourself and how you responded to those memorable times. Those too, are the times that God was molding you into what you would become today.
Beep! Beep! It’s time to stop and thank God for all the experiences, good and bad, that formed you into the person you are today. Ask him to help you right any wrongs that may have occurred! Why? Because, if they are still in your memory as a negative experience, they will only become a positive one when you correct them!
Adult Life
Take a brief, or longer look back on your adult life. If you are like me, you have gone through some heart wrenching times with deaths of loved ones, family sickness, accidents, broken friendships, shamefulness, along with other trials and tribulations. Yet, through it all, God has been faithful. God has been loving, patient, forgiving, and relentless in meeting your needs. He didn’t always give you what you prayed for and that alone is worthy of much praise! How could you ever thank him enough, if he had only given you your family? He’s brought many different people in your life at the perfectly exact time for his divine purpose.
Beep! Beep! This journey is slowly coming to an end. It’s time to thank God for your family, your friends, your life experiences, but most of all thank him for allowing you to be a Child of the King! Only those, like you, who have been adopted into this family have access to prayer, forgiveness, and eternity.
Your journey through time is over for now. However, It is my prayer that you will continue to take these short trips throughout the rest of your life in order to understand the magnitude of what God has actually done for you!
Stay thankful friends! Keep smiling! Keep Shining!
In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.I Thessalonians 5:18
I like when I can present an interactive blog. As it happens, that is what I am offering today. If you will go along with my suggestion, I believe the product that you create will become a life-long treasure! Pick up the paper and pencil that I asked you to gather previously. I want you to write a letter to your young self to describe how your life has worked out thus far. Give yourself suggestions on how to fix things that you’ve done wrong in the past and comfort about the how the future will be even better than you could have imagined. Finally, compliment yourself on the child that you once were and the person that you turned out to be. Remember, you are an original created by the Master of the Universe!
