“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” Dietrick Bonhoeffer
In the past six weeks, I have had many opportunities to receive rather than give, and I find that very hard. I am much more comfortable when the roles are reversed. At the same time, it is humbling to accept those expressions of love, cards, meals, and know that they are given from a sense of gratitude for a life that was lived in service to God and others.
No matter our situation in this life, we all have a reason to express gratitude to God for blessings He has so richly bestowed. After this election, I am filled with gratitude to live in a country where people are free to vote their convictions no matter the outcome. I am filled with gratitude for men and women who put their life on the line each day to protect and defend our country. I am so grateful for the ones who served in past wars to protect our freedom.
In my career as a kindergarten teacher, our classes would always perform a Thanksgiving play for the parents each year. The class would be divided up in groups to tell the story of the First Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims would dress in the traditional black and white, the native Americans would wear the head dress and feathers, but the star of the show was always the minister. He had three words to say, “Praise the Lord!”
It is interesting to me that now my grandchildren perform this same play for the parents and grandparents. I can’t explain the reasoning here, but each one of my grandsons have been chosen to play the role of the minister in the play. Is that type casting or what? Drew was the first, then Cooper, Mason did it two years ago and now Reese will be the last to play this coveted role this year. I must say that each one of them has done it with excitement and a style all their own.
As I watch Reese perform those three words this year, I will be filled with gratitude for all God’s blessings. “Praise the Lord!”