Day 2 What is a Life of Thanks (in America)?

Welcome to the second day of: "A Life of Thanks: The Blessings of Life in America Since 1607." This is a combination of a blog post series, a memoir, and daily devotional and journaling thoughts about counting my and our blessings of life in America. It's to help us appreciate the supreme blessing we have now, from our past, and in our future as a nation and as individuals. Therefore, as I share daily thoughts, I hope we will count our blessings--and do so more each moment of every day.

Counting our blessings helps us ensure we do not take anyone or anything for granted. It also helps live a more intentional, purposeful life.

There is another reason for this blog post series: I do not know about you, but what has happened in our country since September Eleventh, 2001 has me disturbed. Current events and politics only add to my disturbance. What has happened to us as a nation? Have we lost our way? Have each of us pulled our weight to make America the land of the free and beautiful? And far more importantly, have I?

Now would be a good time for me to make a request. Keep a journal and count your blessings about your life in the United States of America. Also, think through,and interact with, each day's material in your journal.

Why should you do this? It's because the more you think things through, and the more blessings you count, the more you will get out of these daily readings. Journaling will help you with this endeavor.

Another reason to have a journal and count your blessings is to help you keep track of them. On a tough day, or in a tough moment, it can be difficult to find one blessing to count. Keeping a list helps remember in spite of that moment, our lives are extremely blessed and it helps us see that this moment is temporary. Hence, counting our blessings gives us proper perspective and helps us live a better life in spite of the challenges of the moment.

The last decade and a half, our nation has seen its challenges. Our current events show how we are divided more as a country than we have been in decades. Living a Life of Thanks is one way each of us can actively make a difference in this regard.

Is living a life of thanks a way to have world peace? I wouldn't go that far. People are people. And, because people are people, I do not think without the hand of God we could ever achieve world peace. However, learning to count more bleeding than find worries or complains sure couldn't hurt or make things worse. In fact, it would help each of us individually to live better lives,more purposeful lives. If we were to really do this, we as individuals, as families, as communities, as states, as a country, and as a world would be radically transformed.


Devotional and Journaling Thoughts:

List at least five things you are thankful in your life.

List at least five things you are thankful for regarding America.

How would you define "A Life of Thanks?"

I would rather count my blessings than complaints. How about you? Journal your response.

List at least five more things you are thankful for.