4:13 Podcast: Thanksgiving Audio Card [Episode 326]

Jennifer Rothschild: Thankfulness. It's a choice we make every single day, but this is the time when we focus in on what it means and what it does in our lives and what we do have to be thankful for. So sit down, open up your heart so that you can open up this audio Thanksgiving card from KC and me to you. Here we go.

KC Wright: Welcome, welcome to the 4:13 Podcast, where practical encouragement and biblical wisdom set you up to live the "I Can" life, because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Now, welcome your host, whom I'm so thankful for, Jennifer Rothschild.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, and I'm so thankful for KC, and we are both so thankful for each of you. And I know you're busy today. So I would say it's two friends, one topic, and zero stress, but chances are you might have been up since 3:00 AM putting the turkey in the oven --

KC Wright: Yeah, for real.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- you're feeling a little stress. So we just thought we would hang out with you in your kitchen, around your table, or in the car as you're driving to Granny's house for Thanksgiving. We just thought we'd hang out together and talk about whatever we feel like talking about. And, of course, you know we're going to talk about thankfulness.

So as KC said, he is thankful for me. Y'all, I am so thankful for KC. I'm thankful for our friendship.

KC Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: So let's just do a rapid fire. What are we thankful for? I'm going to start shallow. I'm thankful for good coffee.

KC Wright: Oh, come on.

Jennifer Rothschild: And you know what I'm thankful for? I just learned that Costco has a blend called -- sorry -- Pacific Bold. And guess what? It's made by Starbucks --

KC Wright: Ooh.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- and it tastes just like Verona. And whereas Starbucks K-Cups are $0.72 a piece, Costco's are $0.32 a piece for Pacific Bold. I am so thankful for that.

Okay, yours. What are you thankful for?

KC Wright: It's the little things.

Jennifer Rothschild: It's the little things.

KC Wright: I'm just so thankful for -- you know, I'm thankful for this heart that's beating right now.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. Right?

KC Wright: I heard the other day, your heart beats 72 times a minute.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, my goodness.

KC Wright: So every time it beats, it does so with the permission of our Creator. And I'm just so thankful for life. I mean, can we just, like, stop and thank God for life?

Jennifer Rothschild: I know.

KC Wright: I mean, yes, I'm thankful for the house I live in, I'm thankful for the car I drive, I'm thankful for my baby girl who's 14 now.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, my goodness.

KC Wright: Mind blown.

I'm thankful for this podcast where we get to talk to you and love you and share life with you. But, man, I'm just so thankful for life. Just life. Living life.

Jennifer Rothschild: Me too.

You know, I'm thankful for my husband. This has been a big year for him. He retired this year.

KC Wright: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: And I've just realized sometimes we get so caught up in the dailiness of life. And, you know, it's a machine. Family life can be a machine. And sometimes -- and I'm saying this to you right now as you're busy with your holiday stuff. Sometimes in the stress of pulling it off, we don't stop to realize how grateful we are for who we're doing it with, and all we can see sometimes is the annoyance or the "I wish he did this," or "I wish she did that," or "I wish it weren't this way." And we got to be grateful for who's there. Can you imagine this holiday without that person sitting at your table?

KC Wright: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: So I think -- you know, KC, I know you were talking to me a while back, a sermon series you preached about having your best life means not carrying offenses. I think that's one of the things I'm thankful for this year, is I've had a renewed ability to see the good in all the things and all the people. Let go of the offenses quicker, forgive faster, and just be thankful for that person. Oh, my goodness, how I would miss the people in my life. You know?

KC Wright: Yeah. I don't know where it's at, but this Scripture's coming to my mind right now. Remember -- it says, "Rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in everything, for giving thanks is the will of God for you."

Jennifer Rothschild: Yep.

KC Wright: That's the will of God. In everything give thanks.

And I'm reminded of the Bible story where Jesus is preaching. And what happens? He's preaching to the multitudes and hunger set in. And they had no food trucks.

Jennifer Rothschild: That's true.

KC Wright: And you can only listen so long, no matter how good it is, and all of a sudden hunger pains, you know?

Jennifer Rothschild: Right, right.

KC Wright: And so he asked the crowd, you know, What do we have? And a little boy said, I've got a Happy Meal. You know, it was two fish, five loaves.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

KC Wright: And he saw that and said, You know what? We can work with that. And he gave thanks for what was not enough. You have 5,000 mouths and a little boy's lunch. But he gave thanks for what was not enough. And in giving thanks, which is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, it filled all these baskets. It fed everyone. And there was so much left over that they had baskets full of leftovers, because that's the God we serve. He's the Ephesians 3:20 God, that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask, think, hope, or imagine when we give thanks for what is not enough.

I remember when we started the podcast.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

KC Wright: Yeah. And I'm like, Well, I know my grandma will listen.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, I was the same way, KC.

KC Wright: Right?

Jennifer Rothschild: I remember when we got 50 reviews. I was like, Oh, my gosh. Thank you, Lord.

KC Wright: Yeah, yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. And now here we are over a thousand.

But you know what, KC? As I'm hearing you say that, I love that because when we thank God -- often we thank God for the enoughs and for the blessings and for the abundance. But what Jesus showed us is he was thankful for what did not on the surface appear to be enough. Because thankfulness is not based on what we hold in our hands; it's based on who holds us in his hands. And he is always worthy of our gratefulness, always worthy of our thanksgiving.

And I know for me, one of the things I am mindful of is being thankful for what I'm not aware of. Like, I don't know what God has spared me from. And so I am thankful for that because I don't know. But I know who he is, so I know there's a truckload of things that he has spared me from that I am not even aware of.

KC Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: So thank you, Lord.

And here's the thing, my people. You may be out there thinking, yeah, but I was just diagnosed with cancer, or my husband just left me. And those are horrible things. I mean, they are not good and we don't thank God necessarily for those things. But we can thank God in those things. We can thank him for who he is, how he's going to show up, how he's going to heal, provide, give us grace. Whatever it is, we can thank him for that. It's almost like thanking God for the thorn.

KC Wright: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Because if God has allowed a thorn in our lives, then we thank him for the thorn. We don't just thank him super loud when the thorn is removed; we thank him every day while we carry the thorn.

KC Wright: You may not be where you want to be, but thank God you're not where you once were, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Isn't that the truth?

KC Wright: And we've got to remain thankful in the seasons of life. Man, there's a lot of stuff in my life right now that I want to change. Really, I want some things to change. But I'm not going to lust after the future so much and long for the future so much that I'm not enjoying the now of today. Because maybe you're in a bad season. Well, remember, one season David was a shepherd, the next season he's a king.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yep.

KC Wright: One season Ruth was working in the field, the next season she owned that field. Mordecai, one season he was outside the king's palace, the next season he was inside the palace. So I'm telling you, I'm just telling you, as you remain thankful, as you have a heart of thankfulness, you just wake up, God, thank you for this. Thank you for this warm bed. Thank you for these clean sheets. Thank you for this roof. Thank you that I've got someone who loves me and I'm loved by you.

You know, this is a true story. A portion of my heart is in Haiti, in Fond Doux, Haiti. It's a little village I go to. And I'm telling you what, every time I leave the airport -- you may have family issues, drama for your mama. You may have the bills, you may have all the things. You land in Haiti -- guess what? -- you have no more problems.

Jennifer Rothschild: Amen. Right?

KC Wright: You are delivered from all your problems. And you're so thankful that you live in America -- I'm serious -- and you're like, Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me. Because, you know, it's the poorest country in the nation, and they would dream for the life that some of us are unthankful for.

Jennifer Rothschild: You know, KC, I think a very practical way for us to incorporate Thanksgiving -- you just kind of gave us a picture of it -- find a bigger problem. Sometimes you just need to find a bigger problem. Like, if you're having trouble being thankful for your life and your stuff, you got to find a bigger problem, because it's out there.

And then also -- I kind of alluded to it with I don't know what God has spared me from -- we got to have a broader perspective. We can't just look straight into our own little tiny life. We got to have a broader perspective and see what it is that perhaps God is doing, what is it that God has spared us from.

But bottom line -- and we're going to land this episode with this concept. Because we're going to end with a song, by the way, a song by Micah Christopher called "The Lord is Good." And here's the truth. We are thankful because the Lord is good. Even if we never get one good thing from him -- which we get tons of things -- but even if we never did, he is still worthy of our thanksgiving, because the Lord is good. And all the people said.

KC Wright: Amen.

Jennifer Rothschild: Amen. We love you guys.

KC Wright: We love you.

Jennifer Rothschild: Happy Thanksgiving. The Lord is good and his mercy endures forever.

Micah Christopher: (Singing) I called upon the Lord; He answered me. I called upon the Lord; He set me free. He set me free. The Lord is good, His love endures forever. He will not fail. The Lord is good; His love endures forever. He will not fail.

I called upon the Lord; He heard my cry. I called upon the Lord; He saved my life. He saved my life. Oh, yeah, the Lord good; His love endures forever. He will not fail. The Lord is good; His love endures forever. He will not fail. No, he will not fail.

This is the day, this is the day, the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day, this is the day, the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad. The Lord is good; His love endures forever. He will not fail. The Lord is good; His love endures forever. He will not fail. No, he will not fail.