WisconsinChristianNews.com Volume 26, Issue 7 Thankfulness - Where the Rubber Meets the Road Page 16
By Emily Myers Year-End 2025
God’s mercy and give thanks. But there were also moments that re- quired a deliberate choice to be thank- ful: when exhaus- tion blurred my thoughts, when re- lationships felt
The children are safe and healthy. The Lord provided help when I needed it most and grace to get through what I couldn’t fix. Even in the chaos, His faithfulness never wavered. He car- ried me through moments I didn’t have the strength for and reminded
or ease, but from trust — trust that God is working all things together for good, even when we can’t see how. So wherever this season finds you — whether you’re celebrating or just surviv- ing — take a moment to pause. Count your blessings. Thank God for His pres- ence, His protection, and His unchang- ing love. Because even when life is hard, He is still good. And that truth alone is reason enough to give thanks. Emily Myers and her husband, Daniel, live on a small farm in Missouri where they homeschool their seven children. Emily is a Certified Professional Midwife. Together, Emily and Daniel co-authored “Expressions of Thanksgiving,” a fam- ily devotional designed to cultivate hearts of gratitude through Scripture, song, and reflection. Daniel also illustrated the book with his original artwork.
I’ve tried to write an article for this issue several times, but finally I decided to just try to write a little about life. This fall has been one of those seasons where les- sons on thankfulness have moved from theory to reality. Over the last few months, I’ve been writing about gratitude — how to cultivate it, express it, and root it deeply in our hearts. But in recent weeks, the Lord has given me opportu- nities to live out those very truths in ways I didn’t expect. It’s been stretching, hum- bling, and yes, — exhausting — but it’s also reminded me that the kind of grati- tude Scripture calls us to isn’t just for the good days. It’s for every day. “In everything give thanks,” Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. It’s easy enough to quote that verse when life feels steady. But when the unexpected happens one thing after another, when fatigue sets in and emotions run thin — that’s where the rubber meets the road. The past two months have held one challenge after another — urgent phone calls, disrupted plans, and long nights that left little room for rest. One day would bring a small crisis, the next an- other wave of something new. Some sit- uations resolved with visible grace; others left lingering questions and weary hearts. It felt like every time I caught my breath, another need arose. I’ll admit, there were days when I felt stretched be- yond what I could handle. But looking back, I can see the Lord’s hand in each moment — the way He sustained, pro- vided, and steadied me when I didn’t feel steady myself. There were times when gratitude came easily. When a difficult birth turned out safely, when a family member recovered from an emergency, or when a situation that could have ended badly instead brought relief — I could clearly see
strained, or when I was simply too tired to feel any- thing deeply. And that’s where I began to see that gratitude isn’t just a feeling — it’s obedience. It’s easy to be thankful when life slows down long enough for us to recognize blessings. But when the pace quickens and everything demands our attention at once, we have to train our eyes to look for God’s fingerprints even in the chaos. In the last several weeks, I’ve found my- self giving thanks for small, often-over- looked things: the quiet strength to get through another day, the comfort of a warm bed after a long night, a child’s laughter breaking the tension, or the sim- ple gift of shared prayer with a friend. Those moments might not erase the hard circumstances, but they remind me that God’s goodness hasn’t disappeared — it’s just showing up in quieter ways. Thankfulness in those small things helps re-center my heart. It reminds me that I am not carrying any of this alone. There were also situations that went deeper than tiredness — moments that touched emotions I hadn’t expected. Disappointment in people I care about, worries about my husband’s health, con- cern for a child who needed surgery, and the helplessness of watching others suf- fer. These things can shake you, even when you know God is in control. In those times, thankfulness didn’t come
naturally. I had to wrestle through it — sometimes tearfully. Yet over and over, the Lord brought to mind the truth that gratitude and grief are not opposites. We can thank Him while our hearts ache. We can praise Him for His presence while we cry out for His help. David modeled that beautifully in the Psalms. He poured out honest emo- tion before God, yet nearly always re- turned to thanksgiving. His example reminds me that the act of giving thanks in hardship isn’t about pretend- ing everything is fine — it’s about pro- claiming that God is still good, even when everything else feels uncertain. Colossians 3:23 reminds us, “What- ever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” That truth has become more personal to me lately. I’m learning that gratitude frees my heart from bitterness. When I release my need for recognition and simply thank God for the opportunity to serve, peace replaces disappointment. I’m hoping that this time the dust will settle for a while and we can have a little break, but I know I can rest in knowing that God is in control. I thank Him that He cares and that he truly does hold our future. I have so much to be thankful for. My family is to- gether. My husband is recovering.
me, again and again, that His goodness isn’t dependent on my circumstances. I won’t pretend I’ve mastered thankful- ness — it’s still something I’m learning day by day. But I’ve come to believe that the richest gratitude often grows in the hardest soil. It’s not born from perfection
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