grace in the thanks.

Today, I saw God's grace through 5 different stories from 5 individuals at my church. We had a special Thanksgiving service tonight at church and I had the privilege of being one of the singers at it. This meant that I got to sit up on stage and sing a song of Thankfulness in between 5 testimonies told by members of our church. I didn't expect to be moved so greatly by these testimonies, but the raw honesty and true seeking of God brought tears to my eyes multiple times. These were not necessarily all awful, heart wrenching stories of death and tragedy and great disaster, but rather common everyday hardships that many of us struggle with. The fact that these people, who were going through rough times, many of which were like things I or others around me have also experienced, made me realize something. These people were not there to ask for pity for these events, they were there to say thanks. They were thanking God for the place that these events had in their lives because they brought them closer to him. They said thanks to God for always being the consistency in their lives, and they said thanks to God for the ability to see these trials as blessings.
As I sat up on stage, waiting for each testimony to finish so that I could participate in leading the next song, I realized something. Thankfulness is grace. The fact that we are able to not only have things to be thankful for, but the fact that we are able to realize these as blessings and to thank God for them. Giving thanks is like therapy. It reminds me of all the things I really do have whether material possessions or relationships. It is like therapy because it takes the focus off of me and off of the gifts, and back to the Giver, God. I am especially excited for this years Thanksgiving because God has been working in me in new and wonderful ways in the past months, and this new sensitivity to seeing the grace around me has opened my eyes to the great multitude of grace that I have to be thankful for.
So, thanks God. Thanks for grace. And mostly, thanks for allowing me to acknowledge Thankfulness as what it truly is, recognition of grace.