Psalm 105 is rich with practical admonitions for Thanksgiving. But two in particular have captured my attention this year:

“Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.”—Psalm 105:2

Sing to Him

I’m planning to preach this Sunday from Luke 1 about Mary’s song of worship. When she sang, her whole purpose was to exalt the Lord. In fact, her worship convicted me that sometimes mine is too shallow. It’s so easy for our singing—especially congregational singing—to become mechanical rather than purposeful.

This Thanksgiving, pick up a hymn book, and sing praise to the Lord. (more…)

Patience has never been one of my natural virtues. My preferred mode of operation is to set my eyes on a goal and start moving that direction—as quickly as possible.

In part, I believe this drive in the hearts of leaders is a God-given gift. It keeps us challenged, and it helps us to motivate others.

But there’s a downside to it as well. Sometimes we chug so fast that we fail to pause to give thanks. It’s as if the train is careening so quickly along that all of our focus and attention is concentrated into just keeping steady in this forward momentum. But we never get to enjoy the scenery…or look back over the distance we’ve covered.

The Thanksgiving holiday is an opportunity to briefly pause the train…and give thanks. (more…)

Terrie’s and my first Thanksgiving together was sure to be slim. I was a nineteen-year-old Bible college student, and I wasn’t exactly what you would call wealthy! At the time, I worked for Caterpillar Inc. in City of Industry, California. I was thankful for my job and grateful for the opportunity it gave me to provide for my new bride.

About a week before Thanksgiving, Jim Anderson, the General Manager gave every employee a small turkey. I could hardly believe his generosity—this few pound bird would mean that Terrie and I would have a Thanksgiving dinner.

My amazement was compounded, however, when I heard the older guys at work complain about the size of the turkey. (It actually was very small.) “What does Jim think we’re going to do with a bird this little anyway?” “He’s cheap—he just gives us this game hen to make us like him.”

I brought the turkey home, and Terrie and I enjoyed every bite. I also wrote a thank you note to Mr. Anderson. It was pretty simple—I just thanked him for his thoughtfulness and let him know I appreciated my job. I sent the note; we ate the turkey; and that was the end of the story in my mind. (more…)

How do you say “thank you” for God’s goodness? Really, it’s impossible to fully express our thanks.  But when your heart is overflowing with gratitude, it will find an outlet.

Psalm 100 is the outpour of a heart focused on God’s abundant blessings to His people. In this Psalm of thanksgiving, verses 1–2 reveal three ways a thankful heart expresses gratitude.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

1. A heart of joy

Joy is the outgrowth of a thankful heart. Even in our darkest days, we have more blessings than we can count. And if we will actually pause to count them, as the song “Count Your Blessings” says, we will be surprised “at what the Lord hath done.”

Thankful people are joyful people. Count your blessings! (more…)

It’s just a simple box on the closet shelf of our bedroom, but it holds years of memories.

I first got the idea to incorporate the “Thanksgiving Box” into part of our family holiday tradition when our children were quite young. One year, after our Thanksgiving dinner, I gave each of the children a sheet of paper and a pencil, and I asked them to write down the top five things they were grateful for. This was not a pressured activity to think of the best things, nor was it a competition to see who could come up with the most. It was simply an exercise to write down what God had done for us. Terrie and I wrote our own lists as well. When everyone was finished, we put our lists into the creatively-named “Thanksgiving Box.”

The following year, we repeated the tradition. Only this time, we gave each child their list from the previous year to read before writing a new list. They enjoyed remembering the blessings of the previous year, and their old lists helped to ignite their gratitude for writing a new list. (more…)