In an effort to emphasize the season of Thanksgiving, I’m celebrating it all through the month of November. Earlier I explained my 21 Days of Giving Thanks challenge, which you can read about here. Today let’s focus on giving thanks for something intangible yet valuable.

Day 10 – Give Thanks for Experiential Abundance

I’m going to have to explain what I mean, because I think I just coined a new term. By “experiential abundance” I mean all the priveleges and opportunities you have experienced in life by virtue of you being you- the family and country you were born into, the experiences in life you have enjoyed by nature of your parents’ ambitions, your financial status, the people you know, basically anything experientially unique to you. Whether it is riding a jet ski , or skydiving, or cello lessons, or a niche career, or youth soccer, or your college of choice, or VIP tickets, or a hotdog eating competition, or whatever you enjoy, we are all rich with experiential abundance.

But there are other experiences, like having a baby, or knowing your parents, or enjoying fall colors, or even being able to walk, that we may take for granted. We should never forget many people have not enjoyed these experiences. I had three knee surgeries in high school and spent about 6 months of my life on crutches. There were times I just wished I could get in the shower without a struggle. There are many, many people who cannot enjoy what would we consider common experiences because of physical or mental limitations.

The solution is not to grow bitter at God or jealous of others, but to rehearse to yourself with thankfulness the priveleges and opportunities God has given to you. That is the key. Our Sovereign Creator knows what is best, and he as hand-picked from his vast palette of life experiences exactly what we need. None of us can have it all. In fact, what is good for someone else may be horrible for us. So all of us can give thanks for what we have experienced due to God’s grace.

Challenge: Thank God for your experiential abundance. Give someone else the gift of a good experience they would have otherwise never enjoyed. Just make sure they like it, want it, and it is for their good.

CP