The season of Thanksgiving is upon us! Thankfulness is perhaps the most well known mindset of mindfulness. Finding an appreciation in all things from the mundane to the extraordinary. This is also the one I lean on throughout the year from rainy days to sunshiney hikes. It’s a prayer to God to open my eyes to His wonders. It’s the whisper on the wind that God is the artist my heart yearns to marvel at.

Of course, some days, it’s harder to look through this lens of thanksgiving.

———What happens when you are looking around you and you just don’t *feel* grateful?

———Or perhaps you just find yourself needing or wanting *more*?

Life has a way of showing us things that could make life easier, more comfortable, more fun, or more exciting. It’s easy to fall into this pit of how a nicer car would be great, a bigger house would mean I could do xyz, that retail therapy will make me feel better, convincing myself that I really could use another pair of shoes. Sometimes it’s not stuff we use though, sometimes we lean too heavily on another person to bring us happiness and fulfillment. But — this mindset of stuff filling my metaphorical bucket, or a person, leaves me thirsty in just a short time. This “well” we all sometimes draw water from isn’t what we’re really searching for.

C.S. Lewis said this, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

It’s a profound quote really because God created us for a higher purpose than this life alone. I’ve heard it said that we all have a “God sized” hole in our hearts that, naturally, only God can fill. So here is the question.

How do we do that?

A pastor once said, “If you wanna hear from the Lord, read from the Bible. If you wanna hear from him out loud, then read it out loud.” Ha 😄

In all seriousness though…

• Read your bible. 👀 Pray for God to speak to you and reveal His word and it’s meaning to you.

• Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This is where mindfulness comes into play. The world we live in has a way of shifting our focus away from God but we can consciously choose to come back to him (we are in the world, but let our hearts not be *of* the world). We can read His word, we can meditate on specific stories and scriptures, we can pray, we can commune with other Christians, we can weave our faith into the literature we read, the art we make, and even something like our yoga practice :)

In John 4:1-42, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well. She goes to the well alone in the heat of the day since she is not welcomed by the other women to go in the cool of the morning. Based on the dialogue in the scripture, she is hot, thirsty, and feeling spiritually depleted. But Jesus meets her. Note the order of that sentence. Jesus comes to meet her. She didn’t go to Him. No matter where you are at in life, Jesus is ready to meet you. Are you ready to receive Him?

In this story, Jesus had come to offer living water, the kind that “will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (v. 14). Friends, this is the well we want to drink from! So during this approaching season of thanksgiving, when you’re searching your heart and find that it’s difficult to feel happiness, appreciation, or fulfillment, remember which well you want to drink from.

A prayer for this season may be a simple as this.

Heavenly father, reveal in me your glory, that I may see myself and life in the fullness you created. Amen.

• An activity for this season may be this. Make a list of all the things that bring you joy. Maybe doing laundry doesn’t make you happy, but does having a warm blanket to pull out of the dryer make you feel good? Whatever it is, write it down. Write it all down -start with the beginning of your day, all the way to the end, and actively search for the silver lining.

Finally, friends, I pray you find space to selah - rest, reflect, and respond with however you feel led.

Happy Thanksgiving!