We are on week 3 of our 30 days of thankfulness challenge! Have you felt a shift in your outlook? Is there a situation that you are viewing differently now? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Have you ever been given a gift so wonderful that you felt guilty accepting it? Or possibly even unworthy of the gift? Have you ever been super excited to give someone something and they didn’t react the way you wanted them to? As I’ve been thinking about thankfulness, it’s occurred to me that sometimes saying “thank you” just doesn’t seem like enough.

Every year Steve and I start saving money mid summer for Christmas. We don’t spend a ton the rest of the year, so we like to go all out for each other. I take this challenge very seriously. I love finding people the perfect gift. And if I’m being quite honest, I also feel very loved when I receive a gift that is just perfect. Because of this, Steve and I put a lot of effort into finding gifts for one another, however, we have very different tactics once we find those gifts.

First, you all need to know that Steve loves to ruin Christmas. Meaning, he loves to find his gifts and snoop before Christmas. I have to be very strategic because he will open his presents if I’m not careful. This has led to years of figuring out ways to trick him or find new hiding places for presents. On the other hand, I drive Steve insane because he could set my Christmas gift out in front of me and I wouldn’t touch it until Christmas.

Once I find Steve’s gift, I have to create a plan to hide it from him. I spend a good amount of time plotting, and in years past have used antics including shipping gifts to friends and family to hide so he can’t find them. Steve on the other hand, will beg me everyday if I want to open gifts yet.

All this to say, we take very different approaches to giving and receiving gifts. But there are many times that Steve gives me a gift I don’t feel like I deserve. After all he does for me, when he finds the most perfect present it just can be overwhelming.

As I think about thankfulness I realize that its not just about being grateful for the things we have or have been given. Being thankful is also about accepting something.

Some of us struggle to know that we have been given the greatest gift of all. A gift that is free to us, but cost absolutely everything. The truth is we don’t deserve this gift. We don’t deserve any gift, and yet God gives us the greatest gift in Jesus Christ. And thank you just isn’t enough.

We’ve already talked about the shift we make when we choose gratefulness, but what about after that? You see when we are truly grateful, thankfulness leads to praise.

Steve is a great gift giver, and he does such a good job finding the perfect gift for people. I’m so blessed by him and that leads me to pour myself into our relationship, to make him proud, and to tell everyone how lucky I am to have him.

When we can begin to identify the things we are grateful for, and thank God for those blessings, it leads us to heartfelt praise and adoration. What other response can we have when we are given the greatest gift of all?

Whatever you are grateful for, I hope that it points you back to the most important things: your faith, your family and your life. I also hope that it leads you to praise the one who has given you those things.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving next week, I hope that you remember why we celebrate.