Giving Thanks During a Terrible Year [Opinion]

Giving thanks during this Thanksgiving week may seem hard or impossible to do given the year 2020 has been, but we can and should.

2020 has not been a great year. The coronavirus pandemic has claimed lives and made people sick. The actions taken to slow the spread of the pandemic has caused businesses to fail, people to lose jobs, bills to pile up, family and friends to be separated, and suicide numbers to increase. And this week, many will not be celebrating Thanksgiving the way they had hoped due to the pandemic.

Our presidential election is in chaos, and the media is fanning the flames of outrage and contempt.

Yes, 2020 has been a terrible year, but there is light in the darkness.

When you gather together this Thanksgiving, whether it be with just those in your own home or a big family get-together, give thanks for what you have and what we will have in the future.

Give thanks for the memories you had with those who you have lost this year. Whether they passed away after contracting the coronavirus or due to natural reasons or other illnesses, give thanks for their lives and for what they meant to you and your family. 

Give thanks that while coronavirus cases are increasing, lives are being saved. Most people survive COVID-19, and with new ways to treat the virus, even more lives will be saved.

Over the last two weeks, we have learned about vaccines that are 95 percent effective. Those vaccines could start being distributed by the end of this year thanks to President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed. The vaccine will come too late for too many, but it will get us on track to return to normal, and that’s something worth being thankful for.

Give thanks for the job you still have or for the new opportunity that may be coming. Give thanks for time you do have with family and friends. If you were able to travel this year, be thankful.

While 2020 has not been a great year, search for those things you can be thankful for. 

Be thankful that we still live in a great nation. Be thankful for our future.

And be thankful for an awesome God who loves us and does indeed provide. 

Happy Thanksgiving.