Live It Articles Thank More Than Goodness

"For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart ..."   II Corinthians 4:15-16a

Thanksgiving is a wondrously joyous and challenging time.   It stirs feelings of excitement and anticipation. Familiar stories, smiling faces and mouth-watering smells! It stirs emotions - some wonderful and some troubling. How can the joy of the holiday overtake any sense of dread?

There are some that think that "giving thanks" can only be done by happy people in good times. If this is the case, then this holiday will be a real challenge for those who have:

    * tragedy in the past
    * regrets about family relationships
    * struggles with making healthy eating choices
    * painful decisions to make
    * overwhelming conflicts to resolve
    * pressure with home, work, and finances

Two of the most inspiring friends that our family has are a wonderful couple that has been married for 65 years. Recently, the wife came and spoke to our University students. She captivated the room full of 20 year-old students with her wit, but most of all with her honesty and faith. She shared her times of depression, fear, anger and struggles. They were as relevant to the graduating class of 2008 as they were to the class of 1938. The humor and pain of authentic struggle was real to the audience, but so was the conquering faith. There has never been a warmer response to a speaker in the seven years that I have been at the University than the one she received. Students waited in line to be hugged or just to say in their own way, "me to"! The cheers were loud and the feeling of truly giving thanks filled the auditorium, not because a grand lady lived a trouble free life but because a wounded soul had found joy through it all. [If you have not heard our friend Marge Caldwell speak, or read her books, you have missed one of God's gifts of hope.]

A negative attitude can spread like a killer virus - BUT - giving thanks is contagious as well. As the Apostle Paul said "...spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound..."

The power of truly giving thanks is in honestly acknowledging the struggles of life, while at the same time recognizing that "through it all" we have his grace so that "we do not lose heart."

May we all have a Happy Thanksgiving, better still, a glorious one!

Dr. Bill Heston
University Chaplain,
Howard Payne University
Brownwood, Texas


Dr. William Heston was minister of pastoral care at Houston's First Baptist Church; clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and a marriage therapist licensed by the state of Texas. He has also led seminars at First Place Conferences.