I think on this day before Thanksgiving I would like to offer a thought about being thankful for more than the pleasant things.

It is natural to be thankful for all the benefits and comforts of life, the things that go our way, and the things that bring satisfaction in our accomplishments. I think that it’s equally important to give thanks to the rest, the gifts of life that form and shape us into the people we are.

It is the discomforts in life that grow us towards maturity and that teach us how to make decisions with experience and wisdom. The discomforts teach us to learn from this mistake because a bigger one is in the wings waiting for us if we don’t. It is how we learn to endure, be strong, have courage, and stand fast in adversity. It is the proof of true and deep friendships. It is the comfort that God is the Father who trains his children as we train our own for success, discipline, and hope.

It is the drill instructor that pushes a soldier beyond his limits and forces him into the routines that will save his life on the battlefield. It is the coach or circumstance that pushes an athlete beyond all his/her known abilities to unearth the greater abilities within. It is the parents that discipline to shape the ship that will carry a person through the waters of life. It is the nagging doubts that give insight and strength and stabilize beliefs. It is the frustration that empowers someone to have patience and endurance. It is the losses that teach compassion.

Today, in addition to being thankful for all the blessings, I am thankful for the blessing and education of discomfort, challenge, disappointment and all the training in hope, discipline, and love they provide. I am thankful for the worst things that have happened in my life because they have become testimonies of hope to persons needing encouragement. I am grateful that I have never been alone no matter how isolated I felt.

We may provide God the fertilizer of all the sorrows we experience in this world, but He uses those things to plant beautiful flowerbeds and fruit bearing plants. God does not wish our sorrow, but He knows how to transform them into something better.