Pumpkin Pie. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. (It also helps that I can smell the warm sweet and spiced aroma of one baking right now!) I think it's the best dessert in the whole world because not only is it delicious, but it also symbolizes family, the holidays and festivity.
As the holidays officially kicked off with Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, I started to think about why thankfulness is worth celebrating every day of our lives and not just one day a year. During a recent talk at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group, I shared ideas for thriving in the midst of stress and helping our children do the same. Everyone was tuned in, probably more than anything because we all had the holidays around the corner and we all know how stressful this season can get with events, relationships or even grief over loved ones we've lost. The sense in the room was "How do I get through this as a woman AND parent my children through it all?"
We talked about things we can do to combat stress physically, emotionally and mentally. But at the end I shared how hope is our most potent strategy during times of stress. Hope in God's promises. Hope in His ultimate victory. Hope that whatever is stressing us out will end at some point! Then, as I drove to my aunt's home for Thanksgiving the next week, we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the highway. The tension began to build in my neck. I noticed I was breathing shallowly and starting to get angry when the kids began fighting while we were crawling along at 10 miles per hour, still 50 miles from my aunt's home. I was officially stressed! Oh yay, I thought resentfully, an opportunity to practice what I preach!
Then I realized something that might be even more important than any of the things I mentioned in my talk when it comes to stress: being thankful. The whole point of Thanksgiving is to think about what we're thankful for. I know we could each quickly rattle off a dozen things for which we're grateful. But if we spend a little more time (time, for example, while we are stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to holiday events...) and really put our minds to it, the list is literally endless. As we spend even a minute or two thinking about it, our mood shifts. I believe that is the living proof of God's promise:
"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation [help] of God" (Psalm 50:23).
Our choice to thank God in every circumstance honors Him and allows Him to show us His work in our lives. Isn't that what we want, more than anything else during the holidays and whatever hectic or intense situations accompany them - to know God is there with us, helping and walking along with us through each moment? That's definitely my hope.
As we continue into this holiday season, let's commit to choose thanks. Every time we do, it will bless God as an offering aroma sweet as that of pumpkin pie baking in the oven. It will model God's will to our kids. It will bless our relationships. And it will make us all a little lighter during the holidays.
Who doesn't want that, with all this good pie around?!
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