1. Freedom of Religion

We too often forget that we are able to go to a church building and worship our God how we wish, without fear of persecution. We are frequently grateful for God, but not so much towards the flexibility we have when it comes to when and where we worship. We have it painless in the twenty-first century, we never face persecution to the magnitude of those two thousand years ago.

2. Having a Home to go home to

It is only when we don’t have our home to go back to that we begin to realize how often we forget to thank God for this blessing. When we sold our home and moved in with my aunt, you begin to be thankful for your own room and long for that sense of ownership again.

3. Laughter

Laughter can be a chuckle or one of those belly laughs that leaves you gasping for air and is known to be medicine to cure a million heartaches. Laughter makes us wonder how we could ever be sad again or maybe causes us to wonder why we began to laugh in the first place. We need to be thankful everyday for those people who give us belly laughs and make us speculate how we ever lived without them.

4. Tears

In order to be thankful for the skies smiles and the laughs we first need to be thankful for the tears that roll down our checks. Tears call upon us to recall what brought us down to this state of thought and bring us to discuss ways to make our condition better. As the long-lived quote says “ You can't have a rainbow without a little rain.”

5. Farmers

How do we get all those yummy fruits and veggies that make up our table this holiday season? We too often say thank you for the food and the provisions we are able to provide our families with, but often forget to be grateful for the farmers who have given up times with their families to help provide for ours. Too often we rush to the super market and grab our lettuce, carrots, apples, and grapes and forget the sacrifices offered to obtain this produce.

6. Abilities

We far too often ask God to be with us when before we perform our talents, but then forget to thank Him for helping us succeed? We forget that there are others out there who cannot do the things we may be able to. Let us be thankful for whatever God has blessed us with being able to accomplish and let us use it for His glory.

7. Struggles

Sometimes we have to go through some trying times in order to have blessed times ahead of us. Struggles can either make us or break us in the grand scheme of things, but it is how we handle these situations that will cause us to be grateful for these circumstances. Our past makes us who we are and let us be grateful for the lessons it has taught us.

8. Sunsets

Sunsets are God’s masterpieces and cause us to look at the sky in a different light. When God decides to paint this work of art over our sky it causes us to stop and stare at its ever present glory and begins to fill us with awe. These skies invoke great scenes of glory among us and should cause us to be thankful for all the art that fills our life and soul.