Beginning with Thanksgiving

We were talking at work today about how quickly we seemed to have landed in the "Christmas season." We all wondered if it was because Thanksgiving was so late.

I shared that because we were out of town for Thanksgiving, and hadn't shared the "normal" or routine holiday, I was feeling a little bit like I had skipped Thanksgiving, and moved right into Christmas.

As I was thinking about advent this evening, I wondered, as we prepare for Christ, as we listen for his incarnation into our lives, if we shouldn't begin with thanksgiving.

• In this busy shopping season, what if we were to begin with a realization of our many blessings, and with thanksgiving to God for them?
• In this season of making lists of family and friends for gift giving, what if we were to begin by thanking God for the presence of our family and friends in our lives?
• In this time of cleaning house, what if we were to thank God for the messes in our lives, and for the activity of loved ones (and ourselves) who create the activity that leaves the mess?
• As we wrap and beribbon packages, what if we were to remember our gratitude for the joy of surprises and making people happy?
• As we decorate our trees and hang our lights, what if we started with thanksgiving for the beauty of that which is around us?
• As we send our greeting cards, what if we did it in the joy of being a witness to Christ?
• As we set up our nativity scenes, what if we remembered the gratitude in our hearts for the gift of Jesus in our lives.

Perhaps it's not coincidental that Thanksgiving precedes Advent.

Image: Flower at Disney World