Thanksgiving

I know, it's a little backwards. A post on Christmas carols and then a post on Thanksgiving? I must be dyslexic or something. Haha just kidding. No that was not a dyslexic joke Holly. Really.
Anyway.
My cousin and I both noted that aside from the abundant supply of holiday-specific food and the (not so rare) gathering of family members, last Thursday really didn't feel much like Thanksgiving. Maybe it was because we didn't go around the table listing things we were thankful for like we have done in years past. Maybe that observation is a commentary on the state of our hearts. Who knows?
Then on Sunday, I had an unfortunate incident with a kitchen knife and a cantaloupe and came home from the emergency room four and a half hours later with 6 stitches in my left index finger and 7 in my left thumb. Everything that involves using two hands, or more specifically, two thumbs and index fingers, currently takes about four times as long as it normally would. Like typing, for instance.
I'm supposed to keep my hand above my heart when I think about it, so I've been walking around my house with one hand raised like I'm worshipping.
And it was while I was doing that that it hit me.
It's so obvious. I've heard it before. But I still need constant reminders, and this was a powerful one.
Regardless of my circumstances, I SHOULD be worshipping. Every day. I don't need to be in church to lift my hands and praise the God who gave me life and breath and salvation through His Son.
Regardless of my circumstances, I should be thanking Him who gave me so much more than I could ask or imagine or even deserve. It shouldn't take a day called "Thanksgiving" for me to give thanks. Even when I'm in pain, or stressed, or tired of waiting, I need to remember that all I could ever earn is death. That I'm alive to feel those sensations or emotions is huge, and I shouldn't ever take that for granted. But I do, all the time. *hangs head in shame*
The Spanish term for Thanksgiving is "el dia de accion de gracias." The day of the action of thanks. But I don't think we should wait for a single day, once a year, to be thankful. We should be thankful every day. For every thing. Right now I am especially thankful for my eight whole fingers. And my working legs and eyes and ears and heart and my family and house and school and friends and...yeah. And when I get to use my thumb and index finger normally again, I'm going to try really hard not to forget how awful it was when I couldn't use them. And I hope to never stop being thankful, regardless of my hardships and trials. Because no matter what, in life or in death (cuz when I die I get to go to heaven, courtesy of Jesus =]) I will always be doing far better than I deserve. And that's something to be thankful for.
James 1:2&3: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."
Colossians 2:6&7: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
Psalm 100:3-5: "Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
(Interesting fact: the word "thank" appears at least 144 times in the Bible. "Thanks" appears at least 110 times in the Bible, and "thanksgiving" appears at least 32 times.)