Sunday, November 19, 2023

In Everything Give Thanks!





I love fall!  (Though I love Christmas, too, I hate the rush through fall.  Remember when the Christmas season, even shopping, didn’t start until after Thanksgiving?)  I love the crunch of dry leaves, the nip in the air (I can never decide whether to enjoy the nip or wear a light jacket), and the fall decorations—sweater pumpkins, dried okra bouquets, acorns and pinecones.  My favorite color is orange, so I love seeing the pops of orange on other people, too.  I think it shouldn’t need to be said, but I will say it anyway.  I love Thanksgiving and the emphasis on expressing gratitude.  

To thank is a transitive verb; it needs a direct object to receive its action.  I grieve for those who do not have God to thank.  I have two plaques which say, “Give Thanks.”  You can buy magnets, plaques, shirts, banners, which all direct you to give thanks.  I have a pillow downstairs which says, “He fills my mouth with good things,” Psalm 103:5.  There is the object:  God is the source of all good things in my life.

I was recently browsing through Southern Living of April, 2022, when I spotted an article entitled “How to Keep an Attitude of Gratitude.” This Texas family started playing a game they called “Popcorn Thanks.”  Instead of playing the game only on Thanksgiving, they began playing it every day.  Natalie Chodniewicz says, “It’s been sort of a tradition.  It’s a habit in our lives, a daily part of our activities.  We do it before bed, at dinner, or in the car—talking about the good in our lives.”  She and her family must be believers.  They root their practice in Scripture, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” Natalie adds, “There’s been research analyzing thankfulness, and it’s been proven to make people happier, healthier, and more capable of handling hard times.  Those were all things that I wanted for my kids.”  Those are all things we want for ourselves and our families.  

Natalie has written a book for children entitled Popcorn Thanks. It personifies gratitude through a corn kernel named Popcorn Pearl and comes with a small knitted version of Pearl.  I plan to order this little book for the children in my life, but in the meantime. . . . 

One of my daughters recently sent me a Facebook list entitled “Thirty Day Gratitude Challenge.”  I am going through that list, especially at night before I fall asleep.

A person in my life, my friend who struggles and triumphs in the same ways I do.

A space in my house that makes me happy, my back deck where I feel as if I am swaying in a tree house

Something that makes me laugh, my four-year-old grandson who is a perpetual motion machine, when he sings and dances in a four-year-old frenzy

A person who is always kind to me, my neighbor across the street

A favorite smell, bread toasting in the oven

A favorite sight, the number of a family member or close friend showing up on caller ID

A favorite taste, savory chicken soup when I’m sick and nothing else tastes good, especially when brought by a friend or family member

A favorite way to spend time, an afternoon nap on the couch

A favorite book, read again late into the night, as if I don’t know how that plot twist will resolve 

I am working on my attitude of gratitude.  I have a very small blank book that I bought to record my thanks a long time ago. Unfortunately I only filled five pages. But now I’m working to fill it with my own “Popcorn Thanks.”

I Thessalonians 5:18, In everything give thanks.

Psalm 136:1, O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good.

Ephesians 5:20, Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS.


            ~~Faith Himes Lamb

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