I love how God sometimes uses the most random times to speak to us. I’m sitting on the plane and the attendant announces that we’ve been clear for departure. At that moment I realized I still hadn’t prayed – I always pray for protection and safety before every flight, and my husbands drive to and from the airport, and all that. While I was praying I realized this is the third time I have gotten to see my family just this year. Normally that doesn’t happen at all, we have quite a distance between us. Each time I have seen my family it has totally been possible only by God. At that moment I was overwhelmed with thankfulness for the opportunity to go home and see my family, as well as see my best friend get married. Right then a thought came into my mind, “Everything in life is an opportunity to be thankful.”

You see, nothing we have in this life is because of our own doing. Nothing we take part in on life is because of something we did. No opportunity presents itself to us “just because.” Everything we have in life, and everything we do is because of God. God chooses to bless us with opportunities in life that we wouldn’t have apart from Him. I believe that if we looked at life from that viewpoint it would cause us to live completely different.

My mind began to wonder about a hundred different ways. I began to look at everything in a completely different view point. I am incredibly thankful for my family, the opportunity to go home and see them numerous times this year. I realized that God specifically chose me to be a part of this family. I am thankful to see my  best friend get married. I’ve known her for years, but we were never close until this past year or so. God knew that we were destined to be friends, and brought us together at just the right time in our lives spiritually because He knew this would an uplifting friendship. God totally ordained it and I am so thankful. I am thankful for every single one of my friends – even the ones that lasted only for a season. I found myself being able to look back on those friendships that ended, for whatever reason, and be thankful for what I learned throughout them as well as from them. I am thankful for those friends that I know will be in my life forever. I recently was just notified that my job description may be changing to grow another area of our Elementary ministry. I served in the area I currently work in for three years before coming on staff to lead the area for a year – four years in one place to find out I am probably leading a different area. Initially, I was pretty sad about the idea. I’ve grown to love the team of volunteers I have and my staff partner, as well as the venue we lead. But I found myself being overwhelmingly thankful for the opportunity to lead that venue for a season. Then I found myself being thankful to lead another aspect of the Elementary department – to have the opportunity to learn and widen my range of experience. In everything I found myself looking for an opportunity to be thankful. After all, I wouldn’t have any of this or be a part of any of this if it wasn’t from God.

I think in everything we do, everything we take part in, everyone we come in contact with in every aspect of life we need to choose to look for the opportunity to be thankful. It’s always there. Being thankful is a lot more than just picking out the things that you enjoy and are particularly excited about and being thankful for that. It’s about being intentionally thankful in everything you do and everyone you experience.

Living life in a state of thankfulness changes the entire dynamics of everything. I challenge you to look for the opportunity of thankfulness today.