Last night my foreman texted me to say I could take the day off while they decided on the next step. We’d worked 9 days straight with overtime and yesterday I was crawling on my knees all day long doing baseboards, so I was sore and tired. But when he texted, in return I thanked him for the work they’d given me so far. After working long hours one is tempted to gripe rather than be thankful. But thankfulness is a great cure for the tendency to complain.
“Thank you.” These words aren’t said nearly enough. How much better would we feel if people thanked us more often? Think about it. It means that someone first of all had to take notice. And when someone tells us “thanks,” it means a positive effort, action, and decision, was made on our behalf. It’s like a baby compliment for something we said or did. And who doesn’t need a few more kudos and compliments now and then?
Okay, then what about when there’s a lack of thanks? Being thankful shows appreciation. So a lack of thanks brings depreciation. If we stop looking for things to be thankful for, the true value of the thing or person quickly deteriorates in our minds and hearts. If we let it go too far we can lose something or someone great.
We don’t want to let our relationships with good people depreciate just because we forget to say thank you. The same goes for our relationship with God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
It takes concentrated time and practice and we may have to reach deep but God tells us it’s available “in everything [to] give thanks” (1 Thess 5:18). Let’s grab our minds and make the effort to start saying and receiving “thank yous” like they really mean something. Our lives will be more blessed if we do.
Love, Carolyn
Christmas is coming. I’ve got some free books coming out in the next few weeks. They contain chapters from my devotional workbook WINGS: A Journey in Faith, including the introspective questions at the end of each chapter. Find the free e-books and the printed paperback on Amazon for some exciting holiday reading.
Here’s the Amazon link:
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