On this day which annually reminds us to express gratitude, I was thinking it is not just an attitude of gratitude that’s important, but a choice to verbalize thanks for all that I have been given to the Giver of every good and perfect gift.
Imagine sending a wedding gift to an engaged couple who live in another state and never getting a thank you note. I’ve experienced this scenario and I wondered if the gift got lost in the mail or if the bride was too busy, too self-focused or maybe she hated what I sent. I’m sure there was a good reason she forgot to send a thank you for the gift I spent time and money buying to celebrate their happy day. Or maybe the new bride had an attitude of gratitude. Perhaps she thought that was enough. I didn’t give the gift so I’d get a note in the mail, yet there is some expectation that a gift should be acknowledged, right?
Because we know God is perfect and possesses all the big“omni-“ words (like omniscient, omnipresent, etc.) we overlook the fact that He is a Person of emotion. He feels love, sadness, anger, jealousy and more just as we do, or rather we experience those emotions because we are made like Him. But the point is our lack of saying thanks to Him feels like the neglect of sending a thank you note. Except the neglect needs to be multiplied by we six billion people who don’t say thank you for much at all relative to what we’ve been given.
So take gratitude a step further. Express gratitude by verbally thanking God for everything you can think of. Ann Voskamp has encouraged and inspired many of us to do this with her book “1000 Gifts” and I’ve really enjoyed this practice. Will you join me in making a list? Strive to do this every day. Every month. All year long!
