Thank You Jesus

Gratitude. It comes easily when things are going well. Thank you, Lord, for the promotion…the vacation…the obedient kids…good health…when everything on the list is neatly checked off. But, what about when life isn’t so neatly wrapped up with a bow on top? When there is no promotion, but a loss of a job? When there is no money for a vacation, or even to pay the bills? When the kids are having a rough day and so is their mom? When the doctor gives the diagnosis? When we feel like we’re drowning in expectations and responsibilities? Or, what every person has experienced lately—when a pandemic is no longer “on the other side of the world”, but is knocking on our front doors? How can we find peace, let alone gratitude, in such circumstances?

I believe that there is one and only one answer to that question, and his name is Jesus. He loved you and I enough to give us a free gift that supersedes everything else in our lives—the good and the bad. Everything in life pales in comparison with the hope of eternal life we have in Him, if we choose to receive this incredible gift.

You see, even on our best day—the day that is going great AND the day that we do everything “right”—we are still deserving of a terrible fate. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And, Romans 6:23 follows that thought by telling us that “the wages of sin is death”. I know you must be thinking, “this doesn’t sound like reason for gratitude at all!” But, there’s more. That’s not the end of the story. Jesus left the glories of Heaven to live among us, gave His life on a cruel cross to carry the heavy burden of our sin, and He paid the price for our sin! He rose again, and gives us freedom from sin, from death! In light of this, we can have nothing but gratitude! This gospel message is my reason for gratitude, and it can be yours too.

Milton Vincent, in his book The Gospel Primer, speaks this truth in an incredible way:

“The more absorbed I am in the gospel, the more grateful I become in the midst of my circumstances, whatever they may be.

Viewing life’s blessings as water in a drinking cup, I know that I could discontentedly focus on the half of the cup that seems empty, or I could gratefully focus on the half that is full. Certainly, the latter approach is the better of the two, yet the gospel cultivates within me a richer gratitude than this.

The gospel reminds me first that what I actually deserve from God is a full cup churning with the torments of His wrath. This is the cup that would be mine to drink if I were given what I deserve each day. With this understanding in mind, I see that to be handed a completely empty cup from God would be cause enough for infinite gratitude. If there were merely the tiniest drop of blessing contained in that otherwise empty cup, I should be blown away by the unbelievable kindness of God toward me. That God, in fact, has given me a cup that is full of ‘every spiritual blessing in Christ’ and this without the slightest admixture of wrath, leaves me truly dumbfounded with inexpressible joy. As for my specific earthly circumstances of plenty or want, I can see them always as infinite improvements on the hell I deserve…

…I am first grateful for the wrath I am not receiving in that moment…Second, I am grateful for the blessings that are given to me instead of His wrath. (Life’s blessings, however small, always appear exceedingly precious when viewed against the backdrop of the wrath I deserve.)”

I truly do not think I could have true gratitude without Jesus and the gospel message that has saved my soul. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9:15) Now, that is amazing GRACE!

The Blessing Jar

An attitude of gratitude was a quality that was instilled in me as a child. I’m grateful that my parents chose the “glass half full” approach and, as much as possible, would maintain a positive attitude through all of life’s ups and downs. While it didn’t always come easy, and I’m sure there were many times of grumbling and complaining, the overall theme was that we should be grateful for everything we had been given.

It’s one thing growing up in a home environment like this, but at some point, you find yourself on the other side…meaning that YOU, as a parent, are now the one responsible for teaching this quality to your children. Because of my faith, I felt a deep responsibility to instill this characteristic in my children-the ability to give thanks in EVERY circumstance, the good and the bad. I knew this was not going to be an easy thing to do-especially in a world where entitlement is rampant. Breaking that mindset would be a challenge, and something we would always be fighting against!

Thessalonians 5:16-18 says “Always be joyful, never stop praying, be THANKFUL in ALL circumstances.” While I try to set this example simply by modeling the behavior in my home, several years ago I realized that we needed something more to drive this message deeper into the hearts of my children. I was noticing more and more complaining and overall attitudes of ungratefulness. Have you ever experienced this in your own home among your children or noticed yourself fall into these patterns? As I reflected on the verse in Thessalonians, I wanted a tangible way of recognizing our day to day blessings, the big and the small. “The Blessing Jar” made an appearance in our home about 5 years ago and has since become a permanent part of our kitchen countertop décor.

The jar, in and of itself is nothing special, but the contents are like gold. The turquoise jar has a tag hanging from it that reads “counting our blessings”. Inside, you will find little tags with our handwriting on them. They include answered prayers, stories of God’s faithfulness, acts of kindness, and most importantly, things in which we are thankful. During the year, these tags are collected in the jar. Some days, several get added. Other times, days go by without a single tag added. Yes, it is not a perfect system. Yes, we fail at times to see the blessings in front of us. Yes, things get busy and hard and we don’t always take the time to write something down. Regardless, on New Years’ Day, when we dump out the tags in the jar and take the time to read through each one, we realize how blessed we are and we give thanks to God.

Reminiscing on the many ways in which God showed up for us in the previous year is overwhelming…always bringing up a response of thankfulness among my family members. When you choose to focus on the positives, even in the midst of hardships, your whole attitude and perspective change. Sometimes, we have even forgotten about some of the moments we wrote about and reading them on New Years’ Day serves as a reminder of all the big and small blessings we received throughout the year.

Do we still have grumbling kids (and parents at times!)? Absolutely. Do our attitudes always reflect Jesus and our gratefulness for all He has blessed us with? No. We are all still learning to have an attitude of gratitude and to truly look for the positives in all circumstances. Our kitchen also has a sign that reads “Gratitude turns what we have into enough”. This promise, along with the blessing jar, are a constant reminder that being thankful isn’t just a “good thing to do”, but rather an essential part of our daily routine that can truly enrich our life! Create a blessing jar at your home and be blown away by what happens when you and your family start filling it with blessings. Not only will your jar quickly overflow, but your hearts will also overflow with thankfulness!

Gratefulness is Thankfulness

Gratitude for me is being thankful for the little things. Reading a verse that shows me the vastness of God, the feel of sand between my toes at the beach, hearing a beautiful song, seeing the awe-inspiring sky. It’s easy to be thankful for the obvious things like a house and groceries, but gratitude is also seeing all the thought God has put into every aspect of my life. Gratitude is also being thankful for the things I usually take for granted, like a heartbeat or breath in my lungs. Gratitude for me is an attitude…living each moment with a heart of JOY for all the blessings God has put in my life.

Grateful Amid Global Crisis

I’m grateful for so much during this global crisis – it’s hard to stay within my word limit! Instead, I’ll list the top six blessings I’ve witnessed.

• The caring, hard-working staff members at my mother’s assisted living facility who are bravely watching out for their residents to keep them safe and healthy.
• All of the essential workers risking much to keep the world going.
• The giving spirit of millions of people – young, old, and in between – from all over this earth.
• The hundreds of foundations working to help non-profits in new and different ways.
• Funny videos, memes, pictures, quotes, etc. that lift our spirits each and every day! Hard times are better with a good dose of humor.
• Witnessing that Easter and other religious events are still happening and touching the hearts of so many.

We CAN and WILL get through this. In the immortal words of Dory, “Just keep swimming!”