I had a great time with my family on Thanksgiving. We ate and played for two days. The festivities were fun, and I enjoyed my holiday. But I was reminded that Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for all His blessings. I know this and believe this, but sometimes during the chaotic celebration, I forget to do the most important thing. In this case, be thankful.

I taught a lesson on being thankful just the week before. I still needed to work on doing it over the holiday. Maybe I struggled because it wasn’t a good lesson, so it wasn’t easy to apply. It was too broad and covered too many aspects of a thankful attitude. When I got home from Bible study, I kept thinking about it and meditating on it. The Lord helped me to narrow my focus. Now, almost a week after Thanksgiving, I have my lesson, for this year, on giving thanks.

George Washington made a thanksgiving proclamation designating a national day of thanksgiving. It was to be a day to pray and ask God for continued blessing. A theme throughout his declaration was peace and unity. Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, declared a day of thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. The reason was to pray and ask God for “the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land. It seemed that peace and unity were also a theme of his thanksgiving proclamation.

I thought about the Bible verses that discussed thanksgiving. Philippians 4 starts with two women in the church who aren’t getting along. Paul asks them to agree (find unity and peace). Then he gives directions for finding peace. Philippians 4:6 says we should not be anxious but pray and ask God for what we need. But he adds that we should pray “with thanksgiving.” And the next verse says that we will have God’s peace that surpasses understanding. There seems to be a connection between being thankful and being at peace and in unity with others.

My Thanksgiving day was full of fun and went very well. But not everything was peaceful, and there wasn’t perfect unity. A big part of that is I tend to be an anxious person. My mind goes to problems, and the negativity can overwhelm me. I wonder if I had spent more time in “prayer and supplication, giving thanks,” if the “peace of God” would have “guarded my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.” What if my insecurities and fears could have been conquered and overcome by my own Thanksgiving day proclamation? That is what I need! I need an everyday thanksgiving day proclamation.

I proclaim on this day that every morning, I will celebrate Thanksgiving. I will “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” And I will let my “reasonableness be known to everyone” (might be hard). “The Lord is at hand.” I will “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let my requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus”. Phil 4:4-7