Happy Thanksgiving! It’s the time of the year that we remember to that God for our blessings and show appreciation for the people in our lives. At Sunday school a couple weeks ago, we had the kids list things that they are thankful for an leaves and glue them to a paper tree. They listed their parents, their friends, their things and their favorite TV shows.

I’m thankful for those things, too, especially the friends and family! I find myself thanking God for them every day.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things in my life. What is less easy is being thankful for the frustrating things! The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. “…Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you.” Many of us spend a lot of time trying to find out the will of God for our lives so that we can follow it. Yet here is a clear explanation of His will for us, and we often completely forget to do it! Being thankful in all circumstances means thanking God for the good things in our life, but also thanking Him for the stuff that bothers or hurts us.

My challenge to you this Thanksgiving is to list five to ten frustrating things you are thankful for and why.

Here’s my list:

1. I am thankful for power outages because they remind me how blessed I am to have power 95% of the time
2. I am thankful for the mold in my house because it is a result of the humidity that makes my island green and beautiful
3. I am thankful for expensive food prices because it encourages me to learn to make things like mayonnaise, bread, and tortillas.
4. I am thankful for Mosquitos because even though they are annoying, they aren’t scorpions!
5. I am thankful for failing at things I try because it teaches me to move past my failure and my ego and to work hard at attaining goals
6. I am thankful for slow mail service because it reminds me how awesome it is to live in an age with e-mail
7. I am thankful for the crabby maintenance man at our apartment because he gives me a chance to practice patience and also to stand up for myself
8. I am thankful for water outages because they help me to appreciate the hard work that many people do every day to have drinking water
9. I am thankful for loud late-night karaoke at the bar next door because it gives Ben and I a few extra hours awake and together on Friday nights
10. I am thankful for med school keeping Ben busy because it makes us value the time we do have together and helps us to make the most of it.

Enjoy your holiday! Let’s finish off the year with thankful hearts every day.