That November Day

We human beings spend a large portion of our lives striving.  We’re always reaching for something.  Planning, dreaming, wishing, looking for the great thing that’s just over that next hill.  To be content is to lack ambition.  To be still is to be falling behind.  We must. keep. moving.

But, then there is one day in November.  One day when we get still.  When we think about what we HAVE instead of what we WANT.  When we wake up from our I-want-it-all dream and we look around at the faces at our table, as if we’ve never seen them before.  We look up from our commercials and our self-help blogs and we think, for just a moment, about how we aren’t sleeping on the street on this cold night.  We remember, for a few short hours, that we are among the most blessed people that ever walked this earth.  We acknowledge, just for a minute or two, that God is a good God who blesses, who heals, who loves, and who has put us right where we are for a purpose.  And, for just a brief snippet of time, we are satisfied with His blessings.

And then the Black Friday sales hit. And the craziness of the Christmas season.  Office Christmas parties, kids’ plays, light parades, too many gifts to buy, too many bills to pay, too many beautiful things that we can’t afford.  And we forget about that one perfect moment in November, when we were happy with what we had.  We just keep wanting and reaching and grabbing for more.

But, this year, I don’t want to forget what that November day does to my heart.  I want to dwell on the goodness of God.  And, it’s so easy to do, if we try just a little.  Because Thanksgiving actually segues beautifully into the sweet and incredible celebration of God come to earth.  Thanksgiving should just be the jumping off place for our thankfulness, not the calm before the Gimme Storm.  I don’t want this time of year to ever find me caught up in a fog of things that don’t matter.  Our lives are flooded with junk that surrounds our families with meaningless nonsense.  I want this and all Novembers to find me living a life of clear-minded, sober-hearted thankfulness for all of the ways that God has blessed.

Even when money is tight.  Even when things aren’t perfect.  Even when there are so many things to reach for.

I want to be still.