“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.”
–Psalm 107:1
I'll be the first to say it. This is a weird year. We'll be spending this Thanksgiving, for the first time ever, not seeing extended family. It's such a strange dance right now with this virus. "I love you, and because I love you, I will absolutely not come to see you."
I don't know about you, but my heart has been heavier in this season than most. Our country is hurting. Our world is hurting. People have lost jobs, lost loved ones, lost mental health, lost compassion for one another. Racial tension has been higher than I can ever remember, exposing so much important work that we still have to do as a country. We are politically more divided than ever, and lots of days when I talk to people who disagree with me, it feels like they are from a different planet or at the very least, reading a different news feed. People seem more stressed, more lonely, more depressed, and life feels more chaotic than it has ever felt in recent memory, BUT… this verse reminds me of what's true, even in light of a really hard year and in the midst of really hard and heart-breaking circumstances: God's love endures. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's right here in the midst of this strange and lonely year, ready for us to lean back into His steady, strong, and capable arms.
You may feel like you are falling apart this year. The good Lord knows I've had my moments of feeling like I'm losing my mind with all the sadness/anger/frustration/longing, but as we are falling apart, we always have a reason to give thanks to the Lord, for He's good even when we're not good. He's holding us even as we fall apart.
If you're grieving or lonely or scared or riddled with anxiety this Thanksgiving, I'm so sorry. You are not alone. I want you to know that you're seen and loved, even if you can't feel it today. God's love endures, and He will carry us through, so we can give thanks. And maybe… just maybe… as we remember God's enduring empathy, compassion, kindness, strength, mercy, and love, something will shift in our hearts and somehow we'll feel anchored in gratitude in the midst of the chaos of this year. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.
