Add the holiday season and all its extra financial and physical requirements to our regular pandemonium, and you might just find us hiding in the pantry, licking the batter off the pumpkin-shaped spatula while fighting back tears.
Being busy and feeling overwhelmed come naturally for most of us women. Whether we’re wives, moms, sisters, daughters, co-workers, bosses, employees, or some combination, we are used to somehow finding a way to do it all. We’ve mastered how to prep for tomorrow’s big work meeting while stirring spaghetti with a baby perched on one hip. We are more than accustomed to tying toddler shoes and creating social media content to promote our business at the same time…all while reminding our teenager about their essay due the next day.
Multi-tasking? Check.
Stress? Check, check.
Add the holiday season and all its extra financial and physical requirements to our regular pandemonium, and you might just find us hiding in the pantry, licking the batter off the pumpkin-shaped spatula while fighting back tears.
Yep, feeling overwhelmed comes naturally to us gals. Stress and anxiety are never far from reach. But do you know what we’re not naturally bent toward?
A heart of thanksgiving.
After all, who has time to be grateful when the pie is burning in the oven and the glue isn’t securely holding the feathers to your kid’s paper turkey creation and your holiday dinner just expanded from ten to fifteen?
You do! It just takes a bit of effort—but the payoff is well worth it, for you and your loved ones.
This Thanksgiving season, instead of condemning yourself for not making every dish from scratch, or stressing over your in-laws coming, or bemoaning the fact that you never got around to searching Pinterest-perfect place settings, take a moment to write out several verses of gratitude and hang them where you’ll be sure to see them regularly. (Probably on the fridge! But you could give the bathroom mirror or your favorite nightstand a try too.)
Take a moment when you pass by each verse leading up to the big day of thanks and pause. Read the verses. Breathe in their words. And let the Spirit refresh you. You’ll start to remember that everything is a gift. That you’re not alone this holiday season. That the to-do list is a guideline, not a requirement. That you don’t have to be short and snappy with your family. That you can’t do it all, but that Christ in you is enough to be what everyone needs.
Below, you will find ten scriptures to settle your heart and soul this Thanksgiving. I pray these verses promote a Spirit-filled center of gratitude amid your daily chaos as you tackle the hectic holiday season:
1. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV) Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
2. Isaiah 12:4-5 (ESV) And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.
3. James 1:17 (ESV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
4. 1 Chronicles 16:34 (ESV) Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
5. Hebrews 12:28 (ESV) Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…
6. Philippians 4:4-7 (ESV) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
7. Psalm 118:24 (ESV) This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
8. Hebrews 13:15 (ESV) Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
9. Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
10. Psalm 95:1-5 (ESV) Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
Perhaps you can use these verses for your sticky notes, notecards, or cardstock reminders. Maybe you have a few of your own verses to add to the list. Both Old and New Testaments shower us with stories, verses, and songs of thankfulness to God that revel in his never-ending grace (whether in good or bad seasons).
If you think about it, the holiday season is crazy already, so why not go crazy posting as many verses as you can all over the house? Sure, the kiddos might wonder what's going on, but oh, what an opportunity to remind your family that God, in all his glory, no matter life's circumstances, gives us ample reasons to bless his name and mark a day worthy of annual celebration to rejoice in an even worthier King.
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