Search

grateful

Expressing Gratitude is One Place, as People, We Consistently Fail

by

The Words, Thank You, Really Aren’t That Hard to Say

Why is it that as a society we have become so ungrateful? Somewhere along the way we’ve developed a sense of entitlement.

I think a lot of this currently goes back to the 20s and 30s and the hard times of the depression. People that lived then knew struggles and were grateful for what little they had.

After going through those difficulties many parents didn’t want their children to have it so hard and did what they could to make it easier for their kids. Each following generation has seemed to take this sense of entitlement to a new level.

A lack of gratitude is a human condition that didn’t start with the depression. It was around from the beginning. In Luke 17:11-19 Jesus healed 10 lepers of their disease and only 1 came back to say thank You. This is unacceptable.

No matter how bad our situation is, we can always find something to be grateful for. It’s up to us to find it.

When we find it…we need to share that gratefulness by saying thank you.

In 1850 the Lady Elgin sank off the shore of Lake Michigan. Following the crash, Edward Spencer, a young ministerial student at Garrett Bible College, plunged himself time and again into the frigid waters to pull seventeen desperate passengers from certain death.

But those lives weren’t saved without cost.  Edward’s repeated plunges into the icy lake permanently damaged the young man’s health.  Some years later, at Edward’s funeral, it was noted that not one of those seventeen people snatched from death that day ever bothered to thank him.

Gratefulness is a choice.

Consider Anne Frank and her situation when she and her family were hiding from the Nazis. Even in her circumstances, she chose to be grateful. She did this by comparing her situation with others that were less fortunate.  

“Like a breeze cleans smoke from the air, a grateful heart removes the clouds of despair. It’s impossible for the seeds of depression to take root in a thankful heart. God has bestowed many gifts upon me and for those I will be grateful.

I am grateful for sight, sound and breath. If ever there is a pouring out of blessings beyond that, then I will be grateful for the miracle of abundance.”

(The 5th Decision, The Travelers Gift, Andy Andrews)

What are you grateful for today?

There are a lot of different ways to show gratitude.

One of those ways is by doing what we do well. When we do this, it is saying thank you to the persons we are doing it for.

Professional golfer Arnold Palmer was known for his signature and the millions of times he gave autographs to people. He was adamant about it being legible.

“What’s the point of signing something if the person can’t read it or later can’t even remember who it was,” he reasoned. He would be frustrated when other golfers would just scribble something and call it an autograph. Palmer was grateful for people willing to wait for his autograph and he would thank them by signing legibly until everyone was taken care of.

It is much more enjoyable to be around happy grateful people than someone who is grumpy and complaining.

We need to bubble over with joy and gratitude for all the blessings God has given us.

Consider who you need to thank today…both God and/or individuals and then thank them.

Make Every Day of the Year Thanksgiving

by

Not Just the One in the Month of November

2020 has been an interesting year to say the least. Sure, it’s been confusing and difficult, but it’s not like there hasn’t been confusion and difficultly before or won’t be again.

We get to choose our perspective – we can be unappreciative or we can be grateful.

“God’s Word challenges us: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18). There’s no getting around it. God wants us to pray with thanksgiving when the future is uncertain, when heartbreak hits, and when shortfalls come.

It’s hard to be grateful in difficulties, but it’s not impossible. Daniel “prayed and gave thanks” (Dan. 6:10), knowing that his life was in danger. Jonah called out “with the voice of thanksgiving” (Jonah 2:9) while inside a fish! These examples, coupled with God’s promise that He will work all things together for our good and His glory (Rom. 8:28), can inspire us to be thankful in all things.”

March 11, 2013 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Today is Thanksgiving – GIVE THANKS!

Why Only One Day for Thanksgiving? – Charles Dickens said that we are somewhat mixed up here in America. He told an audience that instead of having one Thanksgiving Day each year we should have 364. “Use that one day just for complaining and griping,” he said. “Use the other 364 days to thank God each day for the many blessings He has showered upon you.” 

I love this perspective. It is so easy to get pulled into the moaning and groaning of the headaches and disappointments of our everyday routines. Instead of allowing life to become a recuring doldrum be intentional and make thankfulness a part of our routines.

In his book, A Simple Act of Gratitude, John Kralik tells the story of how he found himself viewing his life from a perspective of dullness, debt and disaster. He felt cheated of the things he thought he deserved. One day while walking in the mountains he was inspired to write a thank you note each day. This act of writing these helped him recognize the abundance of things he had to be grateful for.

GIVE THANKS EVERY DAY!

Think of Those Who Have Less Than You – A mother and her two little children were destitute. In the depth of winter they were nearly frozen, and the mother took a cellar door off the hinges and set it up in front of the corner where they crouched down to sleep so that some of the draft and cold might be kept from them. One of the children whispered to her, “Mother, what do those poor children do who have no cellar door to put up in front of them?”

Thanksgiving is perspective. BE THANKFUL!

There Are Two Ways to Look at Things

by

 

 

 

 

 

I Choose to Believe in Miracles

 

 

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein


We have become spoiled and forget to be grateful for the miracles that surround us every day. We can be grateful or not, this is a choice. Being grateful requires an intentional decision.


Gratitude is how we show love. Being grateful and acting upon that gratefulness can be as simple as a spoken thank you or as big as how we live our lives every day.


Gratitude is a perspective. It’s how we see things. We can see only the negative or we can see the positive. It sounds cliché but it’s real and it makes a difference on how you treat life and how life treats you.


Gratitude is a choice. We can choose to be grateful or not but being grateful is a much better way to approach life. We have been given so much. Shouldn’t we be thankful for all that we have?


A young man was driven to college in an old car by his dad. Several of the students saw the car and began to tease the young man. The young man looked at them and said, “That old car is the reason I’m Here”. He went on to explain that his father decided to save money for his college education rather than spending it on a new car.


This son was grateful for his father’s love and the choice he made. This changed his perspective. If this son could be grateful for what his father did for him, shouldn’t we be exponentially more grateful to our Heavenly Father for all the miracles He’s given us.