A Heart-to-Heart Thanksgiving

By Brenda Jank

With grief and gratitude pulling my heart in opposite directions, I will be “hitting pause” this Thanksgiving to go face-to-face with Jesus, as I ponder and pray through the last 12 months.

I have no doubt you can relate.

Deep gratitude is transformative.

It alters intimate relationships. 

It is a life-giving foundation. It says, in neon lights, “I see you. I recognize who you are and how I am blessed by you, your life, and your love!”

Entitlement is ugly. 

Indifference is even uglier. 

Hitting pause and taking time to recognize God’s remarkable goodness in my life is a gift to God, but it is an even bigger gift to me. Gratitude draws me into His presence. It opens the door to a “heart to heart” when I need it most.

When was the last time you wrote God a Love Letter?

A Thank You Letter? 

Was it written with pen and paper or was it sent silently, prayerfully? 

As I peer into the next few days of Thanksgiving – altered and re-fashioned, I will be looking for a quiet corner to explore the tension between grief and gratitude. I believe Jesus will meet me there as I pour out to Him my heart and my hope. Face-to-face, heart-to-heart, He will feed and free my soul.

Want to join me? 

I am going to start and end in Psalm 100 (NIV) 

Psalm 100 – A psalm for giving grateful praise

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Note: we will be pausing our current series until the new year to focus on Advent!