Here we are near the end of 2025. It has been a challenging year for many people who have suffered or witnessed losses. There have been many kinds of losses — loved ones, jobs, homes, benefits, trust and hope. Yet, there is still so much for which we can be thankful.
Because we are still on this Earth means that we have not yet fulfilled God’s purpose for our life. We may have our own purpose, agenda and goals, but God’s plan for us is much greater than anything we could imagine for ourselves.
We can thank God for our daily needs. He made it possible for us to acquire skills, secure employment, earn compensation and provide for our families. Most of us live in houses we didn’t build. We eat food that we did not plant. Our consumption and indulgence were not our own making. God provided and did it through us.
We can thank God for the opportunity to serve him. God uses willing as well as reluctant people for his missions. Whether we approach him with emboldened confidence or shivering uncertainty, he can use us to serve his people. His people are in great need of food, shelter, employment and hope. We can purchase food, secure shelter and send job referrals for others, but how do we extend hope?
When people are down on their luck or feel like throwing in the towel, how can we provide support to minimize mental anguish and further losses? Our assignment in these situations starts with prayer. It is a prayer in which we offer ourselves as a vessel and vehicle to be used by God for the uplifting of his people. It is a prayer that is without boundaries and conditions. It is a surrendering and invitation to be sent to parts of town that are gritty, plagued with blight, neglect and dilapidation. It is here that our faith, humanity and love for mankind are brought to bear.
Hope arrives when you do. When we travel to places where we meet “the least of these,” we demonstrate hope. When we give from abundance or lack, we illustrate hope. When we embrace our neighbors in need, we illuminate hope.
We can thank God that we have the capacity to love, extend hope, model goodness, provide relief, encourage resilience, pray together and forgive others and ourselves. This is not always easy to do — especially with strangers or people who do not look like us.
At Thanksgiving this year, instead of watching football in the comfort of home, consider being a shelter for someone. Can you help homeschool children who are afraid to go to school because of their family’s citizenship status? How can you help someone feel safe from life’s challenges?
Consider being food for someone. How can you nourish the soul of someone who may have lost their way or want to give up? Consider being a job for someone who has lost theirs. Can you help them discover or strengthen their skills? Can you show them how to monetize their talent? Can you adopt a school, family or church? Is there someone you can mentor? Who can you pray for every day?
As we bow our heads and pray during this Thanksgiving season, we thank God for the challenges, both the ones we overcame and the ones that still lie before us. We thank God for the opportunity to be a servant. We thank God for the humility to recognize that all that we acquire and possess is not from our own hands, but his. We thank God that no matter how bad our current situation is, it’s not worse. We thank God that our accomplishments and successes are not because of our education, attractiveness, intellect, shrewdness, humor and connections, but by God’s favor upon us.
Start new traditions. Be intentional. Find a quiet moment and space during the day, and seek God’s face. Thank him for the things you don’t have – perhaps a terminal prognosis, foreclosure, bankruptcy, incarcerated family members, an abusive spouse, overwhelming debt, unreliable transportation or hunger. Thank him for your life, talents, friends, family and capacity to do and be more. Thank him for your purpose and being able to still say “thank you, God, amen.” Happy Thanksgiving.