Your government forbids you to turn on any lights after sundown.  Shrouded in darkness, you no longer walk about safely, no reading, no looking into someone’s eyes, no sense of security.  Your productivity and enjoyment have been slashed.  Trying to reverse this law has earned you prosecution and persecution.

When you can take it no longer, you gather family and close friends and strike out for freedom, knowing this adventure could end in devastation or deliverance.

Setting foot on foreign soil, you hunker down to make your surroundings more livable.  Time passes, and one day you pause to reflect on all your blessings.  After congratulating each other on the courage to sacrifice the known for the unknown, you realize that you don’t deserve all of the applause.

Is it enough to just be thankful to God?  Or should we give Him thanks?