My church had a thanksgiving service last night and I went into the service with a totally different thought about what I would get out of the sermon. Because of the events this week, many people were filled with emotions and had questions in their heart that were unanswered. The Pastor posed the question “how can you sing and clap about Thanksgiving when everything around you causes your heart to be in sadness?” After he said something that I thought was profound. Thanksgiving is not a day, week, or thirty day challenge. Thanksgiving is a choice that you make every day. This was so profoundly true that it caused me to ponder on the power that lies within each of us.

Many people do not believe or has not tapped into the power that we have within to control our feelings and emotions. We have the power to think or say I am happy and then do just that; be happy. We have control over our emotions, thoughts and feelings. We have a choice each day to be happy or sad, unfulfilled or content, and to complain or be thankful. Today is a day before Thanksgiving and I ask that you choose thankfulness and being grateful. Not just today or tomorrow but every day. A minute of reflection will remind you of where you came from and how God has brought you to where you are today. Lastly, if you can’t find anything else to be thankful for, just thank God for his son Jesus dying on the Cross for our sins. Choose Thanksgiving because you have the power to choose!

Recently, my schedule has been crazy! Literally, everything that I have signed up to do is now coming due within the next two months. I have so much going on that I literally cannot focus on one thing. Now if you know me, you know I like to multitask but things have now gotten out of hand even for me. Last week as I was talking to God about my schedule and everything that I needed to get done and his response to me was “how much longer.” In surprise I asked, “how much longer for what?” He replied, “How much longer do you think you can keep this up.” I was shocked! I have had lots of people call a foul on me for taking on too much but now God himself is calling a foul. I know I am in trouble. What God has always and continues to reveal to me is that I am good at a lot of things and that is great, but my purpose here on earth is not tied to all those things. God continues to tell me that I need to focus on the eternal things and not the external.

My conversation with the father left me walking away thinking about all the things that I am involved in and the ones that truly brought glory to God. My greatest fear has been living and then dying without fulfilling my purpose so I know this is a big deal. So I will spend this next week making sure that I spend time in the presence of God and understanding my assignment on earth. My sisters in Christ, we all are busy with worldly tasks and the to-do-list but at the end of the day, only what you do for God will last. My prayer for each of you today is that you live out your purpose. If you are not sure what your purpose is, I challenge you to begin to meditate on the word, and pray that God begins to reveal your purpose in a way that you can digest and begin to bring him glory in your everyday light.