Give Thanks Anyway seemed like a great topic for an event so near Thanksgiving Day. I mean, if we’re going to gather at this time of year, we should talk about the very word that we Americans display on our mugs, t-shirts, and napkins. Right?

The “anyway” part of the title was our nod to the truth that not everyone feels like giving thanks just because the calendar says they should. We were months away from the event, but we already knew we wanted to acknowledge our hearts’ struggle with gratitude.

Whenever I jotted down a thought or two for the event, the ungrateful side of my brain said, “Get real.” My imposter syndrome almost always shows up when I prepare to speak, no matter the topic. This time I had it bad.

Who are you to tell anyone to be grateful?

You’ve never done the social media thing of posting something you’re grateful for every day in November. Some years, you don’t even take the time to comment or even “thumbs up” those posts.

Come on, Christi, you’ve never even read all the way through Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts.

Who are you to talk about Gratitude?

Who am I? I’m who I always am. A fellow struggler.

Some days I’m overwhelmed with all that God has done for me. My thanks giving overflows. Other times, I’m a little bit like a toddler who’s been told to say “thank you” to her grandmother.

Thank you, GiGi!

My grandkids have amazing parents. When I send a noisy baby shark toy or a multi-piece Duplo set, I know I’m going to get a Facetime call, and Mom and Dad urge, “Tell Gigi thank you.”

My grandchildren are exceptional, but they’re also children. The four-year-old typically calls back from wherever she’s flitted off to. I hear a faint and distracted, “Thank you, GiGi!” The two-year-old is finding his voice, and his latest thing is growling. A guttural, “Thaaa-aww-ngk youggh-gh-gh Gyiah-Gyioooghghiii” is followed by an expectant grin. I oblige with adoration and praise. He’s not surprised.

I’ve had years to learn gratitude, but how often do I approach giving thanks like a child? I’m distracted. I’m reluctant. Or I expect God to be impressed by my words or the way I deliver them.

I want to be childlike in my joy at God’s goodness, not childish in my perfunctory nod to him.

Come Alongside

Will you join me this month as I seek to cultivate a grateful heart? I’ll post a Scripture, a song, or a story most days. I want to promise every day, but I know myself too well for that. I don’t want to make a promise and not keep it.

I’ll post regularly. I’d love to hear from you. Are you giving thanks from the overflow of your heart? Or are you grappling with gratitude?

I hope to see Colossians 3:16-17 come to life for us as we share:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

Let’s start now. It’s the first day of November. Have you said “thank you” yet today? How did that go for you?