What would it look like if Thanksgiving never stopped? Can we get tired of the food, hanging out with family, and the otherwise relaxed few days each of us get? I think I would love it. Then again, I also think I would probably go crazy. Most of us quickly get sentimental when it comes to Thanksgiving. I have tons of memories. Many of my more recent are of Meredith and I's first "grown-up" Thanksgivings. We were living 15 hours away. We had meals with other families and then when we found our own group of friends, held several years of increasingly larger #friendsgiving. It all had to stop when we had to smoke 3 turkeys.

But what would it look like if thanksgiving weren't primarily sentimental mental gatherings? Also, what if we really took out our idea of ourselves being the main action focus for Thanksgiving? Yes-I realize I am treading on some sacred ground here.

What if we began to see Thanksgiving as our response towards situations completely outside of our control?

In 2 Chronicles we meet a king named Hezekiah. He was one of the good guys. It had been so long since God's people had worshiped him, they actually forgot how to do it! Over and over in the story, we come across the same phrase.

For He is good and His steadfast love endures forever 2 Chronicles 7:3, 7:6, 20:21, and Ezra 3:11

What we find is a biblical prayer of Thanksgiving, part of an offering of absolute awareness. Hezekiah and the people of God cleaned up the temple AND cleaned up their hearts. They made worship happen again as the people of God but also in individual relationships with Him. We find that the formal action of worship and thanksgiving had a totally different attitude than the one most of us assume one day a year. And it will probably surprise you.