By Gerry Wakeland

The leftovers are wrapped up; the good china is washed and put away. The Pilgrim decorations are back in their box to be stored until next year and we are on to the next holiday. We have Christmas lights to be strung on the house, shopping to be done and cookies to bake.

STOP! Rewind!

Yesterday I woke up and thought about the men, women and children who made the daring voyage across the ocean to find a land where they could worship their God the way they chose. Many of them did not survive that trip. Their bones lay on the ocean floor.

Those that did land on the shores of the new world suffered terrible hardships that first year, starvation, disease, and Indian wars. They did so in the name of freedom. Trusting their God would save them. And He did. Those same men and women are our ancestors, our heroes. Where would we be today without them?

Yesterday I woke up counting the many, and I do mean many, blessings in my life. Why should today be any different?

Just because those Thanksgiving decorations sit in a box in the attic does not mean that our gratitude should reside in that box with them.

So take a minute and think about what you are grateful for today, Here’s just a short part of my list.

• My Savior and the promise of eternity
• Family and friends
• Freedom to worship
• Albuquerque’s First Baptist Church and all that it stands for
• Our pastors and other church leaders who lead with integrity
• Men and women like Robert Stockton, Wes Cox, Nathaniel Meisner, Esequiel Padilla and so many others who serve and protect our city
• Men and women like Joseph Dorroh, Chad Morgan, Justin Leetham and others who serve our nation here at home and all over the world. And the veterans, many who sacrificed their lives, to guarantee our freedom and that of others.
• Water that runs directly out of the faucet, already hot and clean and the fact that I did not have to walk for miles carrying it in buckets and I can use as much as I want. People in places like Malawi do not have that luxury.
• Every morning I take a deep breath and am reminded of my mother who could not do that. Most of us take breathing for granted.

This is just the beginning; the list goes on and on, pages and pages. You can see that we really have a lot to be thankful for.

This year let’s try something different. Even as we transition from the reflections of a day focused on thankfulness inito the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations let’s take a moment each day to stop and say a prayer of thanksgiving. Let us always remember the sacrifices that were made so that we can be who we are and where we are today and let’s not forget the greatest sacrifice of all,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only son…” John 3:16

By Karen Polich

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Study after study shows the benefits of living a life full of gratitude. We know it is good for our health and well-being, but how can we fill our hearts with gratitude? Here are three simple ways to bring more gratitude into your life.

1. Prime your day. Establish each day with thankfulness. In the morning, don’t bemoan what has to be done or how long your list is. What are you thankful for? Talk to God about it. Begin the day with prayer rich in gratitude. While you may wish you had MORE, (more sleep, more time, more friends, more clients, more money, more health, more MORE) stop and let God know what you are grateful for. You might need to hear it too.
2. Reframe. Having a bad day or worse yet, stuck in a bad season? When you find yourself in the middle of bad circumstances, shift your focus. Don’t get trapped in everything that is wrong. This goes for the pit of comparison too. Comparing ourselves to others leads to dissatisfaction and chips away at our joy.
3. Write it down. If journaling is your thing, then have at it and start a daily gratitude journal. Not into journaling? Start a gratitude list. At the end of each day, list three things you are grateful for. It doesn’t even need to be complete sentences. Just get what you are thankful for onto paper. Ending our thoughts (and our prayers) on a positive note for the day will grow gratitude. The list becomes a powerful tool to revisit in the future.

Gratitude gives us the opportunity to notice how life overflows with God’s goodness. Gratitude plants the seeds for contentment and joy. It can lighten our load and put spring into our steps.