I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
- Psalm 9:1

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
- Psalm 107:1

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
- Psalm 100:4

It is difficult to believe that Thanksgiving is already upon us and Christmas is only a few weeks away.

The bible is full of references to a Thankful Heart. Sayings thanks should not be limited to a single day in a year; it should be a year-long and life-long habit. It is perhaps the most important thing you can do. Michael Angier of successnet explains:

The art of gratefulness can - and should - be practiced all year long. If you appreciate what you have, you'll find yourself having even more to appreciate. And that's because what we think about and how we feel about what we think about attracts more of the same. What you focus on expands.

This probably isn't new information to you. But grasping the concept and PRACTICING gratefulness consistently are two different things indeed. Your attitude of gratitude truly is a powerful force. And it must be cultivated and nurtured lest the weeds of discouragement, despair and negativity take over.

If you start your day, live your day and end your day being specifically grateful for all you have in your life, you can't help but improve your attitude and outlook.

Thankfulness or gratefulness is good for your marriage too. A new study from researchers at the University of Georgia has shown that a little gratitude can protect marriages from the toxic effects of conflict. Adam Hoffman, Editorial Assistant of 'Greater Good', a column published by the University of California, Berkeley reported about this recently:

"All couples experience difficulties and stressors in their everyday lives, financial stress being a very common one," says Allen Barton, a postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study. "But clearly not all couples under financial stress exhibit worse marital outcomes. So how do some couples weather the storm better than others?"

While numerous studies have examined the benefits of expressing "thank you" for one's partner, Barton and his team were curious whether perceiving gratitude from one's spouse could protect couples from the damage that challenges, specifically economic ones, can wreak on a marriage.

They conducted 468 telephone interviews with married participants that probed the degree to which they felt appreciated by their spouse, their levels of financial strain - and the occurrence of demand/withdrawal behavior, which is "a negative communication pattern where one spouse initiates, criticizes, or nags their spouse about an issue and the other spouse withdraws from the conversation," says Barton.

They also assessed marriage quality by asking participants how happy they were in their marriage, how committed they were, and how often they considered divorce.

Based on previous research, the scientists believed that external stressors, like financial difficulties, spill over to affect these measures of marital quality, primarily by increasing the number of demand/withdrawal interactions.

Their results, published in Personal Relationships, showed that that spousal gratitude was the most important predictor of marital quality, after controlling for varying levels of financial strain, negative communication patterns, and demographic makeup.

The team also found that gratitude has protective effects - spouses who reported high levels of gratitude from their partner did not suffer any declines in marital stability (commitment and divorce proneness) that often result from poor communication patterns during conflict.

I like Thanksgiving day. It gives me an opportunity to thank everyone who has played a key role in our lives the previous years. We are all here because of the hard work, unconditional love and sacrifice of our parents and friends. It is said, "It takes a village to raise a kid."

Our church plays a key role in our spiritual development. It gives us comfort and support when we need it. Similarly, we should support our friends when they need us. I thank our Thirumeni, priests and our extended church members for the love and support they have extended to me, my family and Malankara World during the previous year.

I want to thank the Board of Malankara World for their support and encouragement. I also want to thank you, the readers and supporters of Malankara World, for your support, suggestions and prayers. We now have a readership base that covers all four corners of the globe.

Two people I want to mention in this connection. One is my uncle, Dr. George Jacob, Retired Professor and Head of Cardiology, Kottayam Medical College. He and my aunt Dr. Mary George, retired Head of Anesthesia, Kottayam Medical College, taught me what "Unconditional Love" meant. I could never be where I am without their guidance and help. My uncle used to have 18+ hour days; he made house calls on Sundays after the church to his patients. I never thought he would be able to live a retired life. But two years ago, he finally retired after 85 from Caritas Hospital. I could not believe when I saw his old consulting room is filled with spiritual books instead of Medical books now. And he reads every Malankara World Journal! And he tells the people he come across about Malankara World too! I am very humbled by his support and thank him and my aunt for their love and affection.

The other ardent supporter is my cousin who lives in Australia. She hates to be identified; so we use the code SS. You may have seen several recipes, photos etc. from Singapore and Australia sent by her. She religiously reads the Malankara World Journal every Saturday before going to church on Sunday. Thank you SS for your continued support.

Thanks also for the support of my wife, my children and my siblings and their family.

And most importantly, thank you Lord for your abundant blessings and using us to do what you wanted us to do in this world.

Let me end with a quote on the last book in the bible:

"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen."
- Revelation 7:12