Hi guys and gals! I hope you are enjoying {Thanks}giving Week as much as I am! We’ve got some more great posts for you as the week continues. Whoo-hoo!

My friend Natasha is sharing some thoughts about Thanks with us today. Natasha and I had a blast working in Sports Media Relations at East Carolina University together a wee while back. Go Pirates! She has a wonderful sense of humour, coupled with a zest for life that makes her fun to be around, and the kind of gal who’ll try baking chocolate chip cookies on the dashboard on a hot day. When she’s not busy cheering for ‘Bama’s football team, (Roll, Tide, Roll!) she keeps the laughs rolling at The Chronicles of Nat.

You’ve probably noticed by now that I like letting the guest post-ers introduce themselves. I hope you don’t mind the occasional slight redundancy — I just love how much you can tell about a person by asking them to introduce themselves. Natasha is no exception! I’m gonna stop talking now, here’s Nat.

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The Blessings We Take For Granted are the Greatest Ones of All

We as people and especially those of us who are Americans, often take many of the small blessings in our lives for granted. It’s the abilities we have as humans that we don’t think about very much yet use everyday.

When was the last time, for example, that you woke up and thanked God for your ability to walk from your bed to the shower or the coffee pot?  It’s not something we think about often is it? Those of us with a relative in a wheelchair probably think about it more than others. Walking is such a minute task but helps us in everything we do. Our legs and feet carry us from here to there often without complaining yet at the end of the day when we are thanking God for the blessings he has bestowed upon us we neglect to thank him for the ability he gave us to accomplish the tasks that were set before us that day. The next time you stand up and walk about remember to thank God for that ability, an ability that not all of us have.

When was the last time you listened to your favorite band or musical or the laughter of people around you or the voice of someone you love and stopped to say, “Thank you God for my ability to hear”? I have a great love for music and just this past week I went to a showing of the 25th Anniversary concert of Les Miserables and thought about how awful it would be not to be able to hear music and I thanked God right then and there for giving me the gift of hearing. Music moves me as it does many people, and I cannot imagine life without being able to hear all the wonderful sounds around me. Our sense of hearing allows us to listen for a crying baby during the night or an intruder in the bushes or the laughter and joy of friends. The next time you talk to God thank him for your ability to hear; it’s a privilege not all people are granted.

How long ago did you stop and thank God for the ability to see all of the wonderful creations he placed for us on this earth? I’m sure that you, like me, don’t often think about how wonderful it is that we can see the faces of our loved ones when sitting around the Thanksgiving table or that we can watch the football game after dinner is served. Our sight allows us to see when someone is in need; it allows us the ability to read  – the Bible, billboards as you are driving down the street, emails from friends halfway across the globe, a calendar so we can know what day of the week it is. Think of all the colors your eyes allow you to see, the landscape of the world, the ability to pick out clothes that match. Sight is a blessing from God – thank Him for it the next time you have a chance.

How recently did you thank God for your sense of smell? Have you ever thought how life would be if you couldn’t smell the foods cooking in the kitchen or breathe in the smell of fall in the air? When was the last time you smelled the top of a baby’s head or warm cookies baking in the oven and thanked God for your sense of smell? Smelling allows us to know when something is burning and as a result can save us from dangerous situations. The aroma of clean clothes fresh out of the dryer would be pointless without our sense of smell. Thank God for blessing you with your nose – no matter its shape or size!

The ability to talk is yet another blessing from the Lord that we often take for granted. Our ability to talk gives us a voice to say what’s on our heart, to teach others about Jesus, to sing when we’re driving down the road. Being able to talk allows us to call our friends and family on the phone and talk about nothing or everything. Our voice allows us to yell out across a crowded room to someone we haven’t seen in years or to whisper when telling a secret to a friend. Voices are recognizable, each one is unique, just as we are – use yours for the betterment of this world, to lead people to Christ, to give words of encouragement to a friend in need.

Our hands provide us the ability to do so many things – lift a heavy load, carry a tired baby, type emails to friends and co-workers. Our hands and arms allow us to give a warm embrace to those in need of encouragement or hold the hands of those we love. God provided our hands so that we can work and earn a living. Some people use their hands in the kitchen to chop vegetables, to stir batter, to pull warm dishes from the oven. Some use their hands to plow fields and plant seed and reap the harvest. Others use their hands to make crafts. Our hands are useful to us in so many ways, yet when was the last time we truly thanked God for providing us our hands so that we can do all the things we want to do day in and day out.

Ephesians 5:19b-20 says, “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The next time you thank God for the large blessings in your life, be sure and thank him for the small ones as well, which when you really think about it are the biggest ones of all.

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Natasha lives in Huntsville, AL, and has known Caroline since before she was a Collie! She works for a defense contractor and also covers high school football and basketball for her hometown newspaper, The Huntsville Times. Her favorite pastime is laughing and hanging out with her dog, The Tide. She has never been married and is currently accepting applications for a boyfriend. You can catch up with all the weirdness that is Natasha’s life on her blog, The Chronicles of Nat. Leave her a comment – she likes to hear what you have to say!

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Thanks so much, Natasha! We do have so, so much more to be thankful for than I think we can ever fully realise! Amen!

xCC

P.S. If I remember I might link up this great guest post with the thankfulness happening over at Chatting at the Sky this Tuesday! If you’re visiting from there and would like to contribute to {Thanks}giving Week, let me know!