Turning Your Worry Into Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving! I wanted to share this article that was written by my husband, Dan. I hope this Thanksgiving, with all that is going on, you are able to turn your worry into thanksgiving as well.

After our family finishes eating dinner, we have been reading through a devotional book with Mazy called “101 Devotions for His Princesses” by Carolyn Larsen.  Though it’s a devotional book for little girls, Mazy’s response to it made a huge impact on me the other day.  The devotional was about how much energy worry takes; it consumes our every thought.  The devotions answer to worry is to pray about it.  We need to tell God what we are worried about and ask Him to handle it.  God will handle all of our worry because He loves us so much.  Following the short devotion was a verse from Philippians 4:6 which says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Though this was a fairly simple devotional, the application of it is often hard.  Taking our worry, and with thanksgiving presenting it before God is easier said than done.  How often do we take our worry and turn it into Thanksgiving?

Typically, after we finish reading the devotional in the evening, we go around the table asking everyone what they are thankful for, and then Mazy prays thanking God for all of those things that were shared.  However, after this devotional we went around the table saying what we were worried about.  Kristin and I shared worries about bills and being good enough in the things we do, and Mazy shared her worry about mommy not coming back.  Ever since Kristin was in the hospital 3 years ago, Mazy worries every time Kristin leaves the house without her.  As Mazy began to pray that evening, without missing a beat she reverted back to thanking God.  Only this time she was thanking God for solving all of our worries.  She thanked God for providing all that we need, and for making us good enough.  She then thanked God that mommy always comes back.

After Mazy finished praying she went about her normal routine of clearing the table and putting her dishes in the dish washer before she got ready to take a bath.  I sat there with tears welling in my eyes, amazed at the confident, thankful prayer of a 5-year-old. Somehow, in her brain, she was able grasp the concept of thanking God in advance for taking control of all our worry.  A concept that is so hard to grasp as an adult, yet Mazy understood the simplicity of it, praying like she did every night after dinner.  When Jesus spoke in Luke 18:17 saying, Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”, I believe Mazy’s prayer is what he was talking about.  2020 has been a year for the record books.  It feels like there is something new to worry about around every corner.  Yet, through the faith of a child I was reminded how simple it really is to turn our worry into thanksgiving.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving it may be hard to find something to be thankful for in this past roller-coaster of a year.  However, take a moment to take your worry to God in prayer with thanksgiving.