Today I Choose...Thankfulness

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. I love the day before Thanksgiving! I always take this day off work and spend the day cooking, usually listening to Christmas music (I know, wrong holiday, but hey, after November 1 that's what I like to listen to :) and preparing for that holiday to come. And today I am especially happy because it's raining, I love the rain!
This morning as I was reading my Bible and spending time praying I started to think about Thanksgiving and what it truly means to be thankful. As I was journaling my prayers, I started to think about all of the ways that God has blessed me. I have an amazing husband who loves me, provides for our family and is my best friend, I have awesome kids who make me laugh, are adorable and who's love is so pure. I have a wonderful family who I love spending time with, they aren't just family, they are my friends, my support and such an important part of my life. I have great friends who I know will lift me up in prayer. I have a wonderful church family and a great job! I have a house, more clothes and things than I will ever really need and the list could go on and on. I also started to think about how grateful I am for my relationship with God. I have a personal relationship with my Creator, the God of the Universe, the Almighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God cares for me, He provides for me, His love never changes or fails, He is patient with me, He teaches me and He calls me his child. As I was writing down all of the characteristics of God I couldn't help but realize and ask myself, am I thankful for these things on a daily basis? Do I tell God thank you for who You are enough? It's really easy for us to just go through life and lift up a quick "hey, thanks God" when we get something we want or when something works out for us, but how often do we as believers really sit down and thank God for who He is? For all that He has done? And remember that all things come from Him? Do we thank God that He has a plan for our lives? Do we thank Him even for the trials of life? Do we thank Him for being God?
God has been taking me on a journey for the past six months or so and He has been revealing himself to me in ways that I never thought possible. He has broken me down so that I could finally realize that my strength is found in Him alone. And boy, am I glad that He has changed me! Changed me to truly desire to get up each morning and spend time with Him. Changed me to be thankful for His blessings each day. Changed to me realize the importance of admitting my sins daily and asking for forgiveness. Changed me to really present my requests before Him and to bring others in my life to the foot of the cross. Changed me to realize the words of Psalm 73:26 "My flesh and my heart my fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Changed me to daily be thankful for all that He has given me, because "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." (Psalm 84:1-2)
So, today I choose thankfulness. "You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." (Psalm 118:28-29)