Thanksgiving and Gratitude in Hard Times

Bible Stories Today, Episode 2

Learning to be grateful is challenging, especially in hard times like a car accident. I share our tradition of reading Psalm 100 at Thanksgiving.

Transcript:

Tamara Anderson 0:00

When I was in kindergarten, I attended a Christian school and for our first Thanksgiving, we memorized Psalms 100, which is known as the Thanksgiving Psalm. And although I don't think I can still recite it my memory, it has become an annual, both Klein and Anderson family tradition to recite Psalms 100. As part of our Thanksgiving, we do it right before we say the blessing on the food.

Tamara Anderson 0:31

And so I'd like to share a little bit of that with you today, and invite you to participate in our tradition. It says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands, serve the Lord with gladness come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God, it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves, we are His people and the sheep of His pasture, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful and to him and bless his name, for the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting. And his truth endureth to all generations.

Tamara Anderson 1:12

I love that because it invites us to be grateful to him. And I think some of the times that it is hardest to be grateful to God is when we're experiencing hard times.

Tamara Anderson 1:23

Back in 2001, my husband and I were involved in a car accident that really should have probably taken both of our lives. But we lived to tell to tell about it. And I was going back a few months ago, and I kept this, this little journal, teeny, tiny, just little spiral bound journal, back then. And I found in there, my account of the accident. And what surprised me the most was here I was in the hospital, I was in the hospital for a week and a half was one of the first things I did was I list the blessed I listed the blessings and miracles that happened. And as I think back on that, I think I had so many things to complain about, you know, I'd been in a hospital for a week and a half. And I was separated from my two little boys at the time, and but there were so many things, I was in constant pain.

Tamara Anderson 2:28

But there were so many things that I wrote down that I was thankful for. And that is one of the lessons that I learned now looking back on that experience is that even in the worst circumstances we can find things to be grateful for. And that doing that helps us have a more positive attitude and to look for God's hand in our lives. And so if you are experiencing a hard time this Thanksgiving, I invite you to look for blessings to look for things where you can see God's hand in your life and you may have to pray to be able to find that but you can do it. And then you can do as the Psalm says, make that joyful noise unto the Lord.

Tamara Anderson 3:16

And I am so thankful for the lesson that I learned clear back then that that looking for God's hand in my life and writing about it can make a difference in my attitude. And and it can get me through some really hard times. So Happy Thanksgiving. Have a blessed day.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai