It has been a while since I tended my blog, but I woke up with something on my heart this morning.  Actually, I woke up thinking I was burning something….and then realized it actually got cold enough last night that my heat kicked on for the first time since last Winter.  Anyways, I digress…

The month of November is almost upon us.  Which means the Holiday Season is right around the corner.  If you’ve known me any length of time, you know that this time of year is when I most find myself praying for people.  Those I know. Strangers. People in general.  I am a person who looks people in the eyes – no matter where I’m at – and I’ve never been able to hide from the truth staring back at me. This time of year can be very stressful, and can only seem to highlight what is missing in a life. In a world that claims to be easier to connect than ever before, people feel less connected and more overlooked.

Two years ago, I decided that for the month of November, instead of just posting what I was thankful for every single day, I would instead tell someone I was thankful for them. It wasn’t just people I know.  It was the cashier at the store who checks me out every week, or the waitress who served dinner one night so I didn’t have to cook, or maybe it was one of my sisters, or a co-worker, or a long ago friend I hadn’t connected with in a while.  You know what I found?  I can’t tell you how many times I was told that the waitress or the cashier hadn’t been told a simple “thank you” or “Happy Thanksgiving!” While it initially made me sad, it also warmed my heart – and I can tell you that I was more blessed with having told someone that I appreciate them than they were in receiving it.

In this upcoming season, I would encourage all of us to take a second to look at those around us.  A thankful heart sometimes takes practice, and sometimes it’s not easy to tell strangers you appreciate them, but I can guarantee some of y’all need to be telling the barista you see every morning what a godsend they are in your life.  =)  Some of y’all, there are people in your life who would gladly hunt down that barista and tell them what a godsend they are, because that coffee makes you easier to deal with.  Truth!

And, y’all, we need to see the beauty closer to home, too.  It can be even easier to overlook someone in our life who should be high on our list of people we appreciate.  We rush through life comfortable in the fact that they know us and love us and we feel the same about them, but when was the last time we sincerely told them how much we are thankful for them? Sometimes it’s easier to tell strangers how you feel – and that just shouldn’t even be a thing.  It shouldn’t.

The upcoming weeks will be filled. With laughter. Togetherness. Some stress. Hopefully even more relaxation. And thankfulness.  A month of being intentional with my thankfulness.  Yes, I’m thankful for my home, a car that runs, and a million other first world conveniences, but my prayer is that I will always first and foremost be thankful for the people I share life with – whether we walk hand-in-hand, or if it is a brief encounter.

 

Be intentional.

Thankful.  All year.

It’s a beautiful life.