The Thanksgiving Project Resurrection

On December 30, 2010, I was reflecting on the best year of my life. (See my first ever blog post here.) 

On December 30, 2024, I was reflecting on what was likely one of the most difficult years I have ever lived: 

• We said "yes" to a move from a church I had loved and faithfully served for 11 years. While we fully believed we were following God's call, our hearts hurt to leave the people we loved so very much. 
• We sold my husband's family home in Shreveport. 
• The day the movers came, the buyers' loan fell through. 
• That same week, my husband went into AFIB after an eye injection gone wrong. 
• Because I didn't want to leave him, I canceled a trip to Romania & Czech Republic to spend time with people I love. 
• I did get on a plane to Thailand later that month to meet my Russian and Kiwi friends, only to break my foot in the first hour there. 
• Upon arrival back in Shreveport, I scheduled a visit to the orthopedist, only for a fella to run a red light and hit my car on the way. (And I didn't get my car back for nearly 6 months!)
• Our last night in Shreveport, before preaching my last sermon... my husband brought back a bug from South Africa, which had us spending the night in the emergency room. He ended up in the hospital for several days, which delayed our move to The Woodlands, TX. 
• My first week at The Woodlands Methodist Church... Hurricane Beryl crashed my welcome party. 
• A couple of weeks later, I was packing to go to Honduras, and received a call that my dad was in the hospital with a brain aneurysm.  
• Not three weeks later, I was going for my annual scans, to discover my cancer had returned!
• And that "bug" my husband brought back... turned out not to be a bug... He was in the hospital five times during the fall, first with AFIB, then a heart ablation, then a 911 call, and finally they figured out it was medication problems. 
• My cancer treatment was in November, and I did not bounce back well... 
• And our year ended with my dad in jail... and I still cannot process that trauma. 

Yes, 2024 will live in infamy! 

But one thing my favorite theologian, Henri Nouwen, has taught me is this: 

• Gratitude is a choice: Gratitude is a conscious choice that can be made even when emotions are hurt or resentful. 
• Gratitude begets gratitude: Being grateful makes it easier to see new things to be grateful for. 
• Gratitude transforms the past: Gratitude can erase bitterness and transform the past. 
• Gratitude requires courage: Trust and gratitude require the courage to take risks. 
• Gratitude and resentment cannot coexist: Resentment blocks the perception of gratitude. 
• Gratitude for all of life: Being grateful for all of life, including the bad and the good, requires hard spiritual work. 

And, so, it is time to resurrect the Thanksgiving Project. I cannot dwell in the turbulence of 2024, as I could be missing out on the blessings of today. Everyday is a day of Thanksgiving.

As Psalm 136 says,

Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King! His LOVE endures forever!

Everyone needs a goal, or at least I do. I will be thankful. I will be thankful for all things. I will not miss out on the blessing of today. I will turn 2025 into a year of Thanksgiving!