By Jayme Hull—

Have you ever been touched personally as you read in the news about a person experiencing a terrible tragedy and with amazing strength they’re still able to have a thankful heart? How are you doing in the area of thankfulness during the good and the bad times of life? Is your speech full of positive and thankful words? Are your conversations with others with a thankful heart and attitude? Are you thankful to be alive and living in a wonderful free country like America?

Do you know which President of the United States wrote the Thanksgiving Proclamation and signed it into law? The correct answer is Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Americans love to celebrate Thanksgiving Day in November but very few of us know the real story behind the people and the courage involved.

History records that after the battle of Gettysburg in July of 1863 as President Lincoln was waiting for the National Cemetery to be completed and dedicated, he was approached in September by Sarah Hale. Sarah had spent twenty years (over a span of five Presidents) lobbying to get America to make Thanksgiving Day an annual National Holiday of Remembrance but was unsuccessful until she spoke to President Lincoln.

President Lincoln agreed with Sarah that it would be a unifying act of thankfulness and very good for the country therefore, he wrote and signed the Proclamation into law on October third that year. One month later he would write and deliver his famous Gettysburg Address.

As I reflect on the choices these two people made as they faced personal difficulties I am encouraged and impressed to be a thankful person who is strong and courageous. Having a thankful heart is following after Christ in obedience.

Here we see President Lincoln in the worst time of his Presidency during a Civil War. He has just experienced 53,000 men dying at the battle of Gettysburg over three short days in July and still this President chose to look for ways to guide his countrymen to be thankful to God.

Sarah Hale, a widow with five children, understood how important it was for people to be thankful. She was able to persevere and stay focused. Her determination would ultimately inspire others to be thankful for generations to come. She did not give up or dwell on the negative. Instead, she was determined to make a positive difference in her community and country with an attitude of thankfulness. (I highly recommend reading her biography)

I am so inspired by these two incredible people. Are you?

Whether you live in America or anywhere in the world, all of us can be encouraged to choose to be thankful in spite of our circumstances.

Be encouraged. You can choose to be thankful no matter what you are facing today. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Be thankful to God in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Will you join me and begin each day by keeping things simple and completing the following sentence:

Lord, every good and perfect gift is from You and today I choose to be thankful for…

A thankful heart will make a world of difference.

 

 

 

 

Jayme Hull: Jayme is a graduate of New York University with a B.A. in Speech Communication Education and Musical Theater. She married her high school sweetheart John and together they live in Nashville TN. Jayme and John have three incredible godly adult children, two beautiful daughter-in-laws that love the Lord and one granddaughter . She went to NYC to meet the Broadway Entertainment world but instead she met the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. From that moment on her life was changed forever. Her new ministry, Woman Face toFace, is a Christ centered, Bible based, non-denomination ministry to equip women of all ages and stages of life to learn how to help each other as a mentor or being mentored. Check out the website at www.jaymeleehull.com

2 Comments

  1. 11-21-2013

    What a lovely post to help prepare my heart as we look to celebrate Thanksgiving in the next week. Thank you!

  2. 11-22-2013

    Amen and amen! I needed this today with regard to pre-Thanksgiving family dysfunction.

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