Blessings, Gratefulness, and Pumpkins ... OH MY!

This week at Sr. high youth group, we're talking blessings and gratefulness! So here's a little piece to get us thinking ... Close your eyes and think of all your blessings. Was that hard? Yep, if you are like me, it is much easier to think of and ponder and get stressed out by the negative of our lives instead of doing the same with the positive. Here's a quick list of blessings for which we should be grateful; perhaps these were on your list above: life, relationships, gifts, talents and abilities, God's Word, clothing, shelter, transportation, work. The problem is, many of the items on this list can also bring us stress and anxiety (i.e. an argument with someone, not having the right clothes, things wrong with your house, things happening at your job, etc.). It is sometimes easier to focus on the negative than the positive. But, that's just the key to being grateful ... taking time to praise God and being thankful for everything, even our trials. As I've been researching and writing this week's EYC lesson, I've read a lot about blessings and gratefulness. But coming across this was a nice reminder of the call of God to us concerning gratefulness: The Father wants His children’s lives to be characterized by gratefulness. God's Word tells us that an appreciative attitude should be evident in our worship (Ps. 95:2-7; Col. 3:16), giving (2 Cor. 9:12), relationships (Phil. 1:1-3), and even the way we approach spiritual battles (1 Cor. 15:55-57). In other words, thankfulness to the Lord should permeate everything we do (Rom. 14:6). In the Scriptures, the Lord mandates our gratitude (1 Thess. 5:18). We’ll be looking more that these this week at Sr. EYC!! And, we’ll even be carving pumpkins around the theme of gratefulness. The bottom line - thankfulness should permeate everything we do! Realizing the extent of what we've been given, recognizing who we are because of our blessings and trials, and truly trusting that God is the source of our blessings are the keys to cultivating an attitude of gratitude. This is exactly what we want our students to do! So our challenge? Model true gratefulness for our youth! And, remember – “gratitude is formed once you realize what you have been given, who you are, and from whom all blessings flow.”