The frigid November air pierces right through your bones. The forceful, whirling wind blasts on and on with a long, lonesome howl.

The trees, so gloriously ablaze with color just yesterday, now stand bare and thin and gray.

And in the front yard, 10,000 leaves pile up shin-deep, each a sorrowful reminder of how dry and lost this month feels.

November can make life seem dull. It can make your heart feel as cold as the wind and your soul feel as dark and bare as the tree branches. And we must decide: To complain or to be content? To grumble or to be grateful? To reject the entire eleventh month or to receive every moment of it with thanksgiving?

Will our minds and mouths choose to thank God for all His goodness, even when His goodness doesn’t feel warm and green and vibrant? Even when His goodness feels brown and bare and bitter cold?

In his song “10,000 Reasons,” singer and song-writer Matt Redman encourages us to keep singing praises to God – whatever may pass and whatever lies before us – because God has given at least 10,000 reasons for our hearts to find.

So forget the deer. Forget the Black Friday sales. Forget that Pinterest search. What are you really hunting for this November?

Go on an easy hunt for God’s abundant goodness – it is piling up higher and deeper than those 10,000 fallen leaves.

Look around you and see what reminds you of God’s love for you. Is it a steamy cup of hot cocoa that warms your hands?

An unexpected note from a friend who brightens your afternoon? A glimpse at the setting sun glowing through the clouds?

Whatever makes you smile, whatever is pure, noble, lovely, excellent or praiseworthy, that’s a gift from God. That’s a reason to thank Him.

This Thanksgiving, let’s be truly thankful. Let’s start a hunt for God’s goodness. Let’s find 10,000 reasons, and let’s thank Him like never before.