An Attitude of Gratitude

 

“…always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” –Ephesians 5:20 (NIV)

 

“I like to play with the stars,” a little girl told her pastor one day when he visited. She was confined to a bed because of a severe spinal deformity. At her request, her bed had been thoughtfully positioned so that she could see the sky out of her window. “I wake up a lot at night and can’t get back to sleep,” she said. “That’s when I play with the stars.” Curious about what she meant, her pastor asked,“How do you play with the stars?” The child answered, “I pick out one and say, ‘That’s Mommy.”

 

I see another one and say, ‘That’s Daddy.’ And I just keep on naming the stars after people and things I’m thankful for—my brothers  and  sisters,  my  doctor,  my  friends,  my  dog.”  She continued on and on until at last she exclaimed, “But there just aren’t enough stars to go around!” Now that’s an attitude of gratitude!

 

Do you ever feel that way when you think about the many blessings God has showered on you? We could never name all of our physical, temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings. But I’m convinced that God wants us to try sometimes! Thanksgiving begins with a good memory, which is why so many Thanksgiving Psalms extol God’s past actions (see Lam 3:21- 23).

 

In case you’re afraid you’ll run out of things to say, answer Paul’s question to the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor 4:7b). The correct response? Nothing!  On top of honoring the Source of those gifts, I learned how therapeutic an attitude of gratitude is for the thanker. During  an especially difficult period in my teens, I was challenged to write a daily gratitude list. Nothing fancy; just to jot down ten things I was thankful for each morning. Shortly, I was up to twenty or more. Some things were repeated, others were unique. Over time, I filled an entire notebook. (I just re-read it for the first time in years. I’m bursting with gratitude!) My perspective changed and my world lightened as I trained myself to focus on God’s good grace.

 

I just made a new entry in that old notebook…and I agree: “there just aren’t enough stars to go around!”

 

To Discuss and Do: Keep Thanksgiving alive long after the turkey leftovers are gone! Let me challenge you to join my family in making a daily gratitude list between now and Christmas. Then review it together at Christmas when you celebrate the greatest gift—the birth of Jesus Christ! (For younger kids, consider making “God’s gift to me” stickers. Let them place a few on different things each day.) Why not grab a notepad and start that list today?