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Thankful Thoughts

When pondering the holiday titled "Thanksgiving" I feel like most Americans, and sometimes even Christians, don't care much about the reason behind Thanksgiving. They just show up for the food or want to begin their month-long Christmas mood. Yet, there is so much more to Thanksgiving than food or Black Friday and Christmas to follow. 

Whenever I think of my blog or Thanksgiving, right now my mind goes to when I wrote a blog article about staying thankful throughout the whole year. I posted the blog exactly six months after thanksgiving was celebrated by the United States of America nationally in 2019, and titled the post: "Are You Still Thankful?". The point of the article was to helps us all to remember that we are called to be thankful for everything we have no matter what time of the year it is. 

The most interesting thing about that article and the timing of it all is that God chose to have me publish that article just about a month before the world seemed to begin to crumble. I am sure that no one can say their life looks the same as it did at the beginning of the year. 

Throughout this year, though, the Lord has helped me keep a positive attitude. At first, the pandemic was all jokes and games until I had two good breakdowns after the news of the lockdown and how serious the situation was becoming for me. Once I got that over with, I was ready to move on with my life. I accepted quarantine with a positive attitude (with amazing people who were able to help make it bearable) and I was able to move on with the changing world once things slowly started opening up. While the masks were not the most comfortable, I had felt worse. And at least I was free to go shopping and roam about. While trying to stay six feet apart from everyone or only gather in small groups sounded like much work and inconvenience, at least I was able to see people in real life. I was thankful for the age that I grew up in so that quarantine was even better because I was able to keep in touch with friends and family that I was not able to see on a day-to-day basis.

Because of this positive attitude that the Lord has blessed me with, I have been able to speak up whenever I am around someone who mentions that they are done with 2020 or they cannot wait for the year to be over. So many people have thought that this year is a waste, but I still understand that it is a gift from God. I have been given quite a few chances to share this positive viewpoint with my friends and people I see at work and when I am out and about. 

I am thankful for the chances that God has given me to share the gospel with people because of the positive attitude I have over this year. I am thankful for the people and memories I have been able to make over these months to help me stay intact. I am thankful for the spiritual and maturity growth that I have experienced through these events. I am thankful for the ways that the Lord has provided for me: allowing me to still attend college in person, and helping me figure out some of my finances as well as helping me get a job. 

There is so much that I am thankful for and I am sure that there is no way I would ever be able to get it all out on paper. Thank you, Lord, for everything. 

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