Author’s Note: Reposted with pictures and some errors edited out.
Thanksgiving provokes us to pause and reflect on gratitude. This is a nationally celebrated holiday where people of all walks of life get together and eat till they are miserable and groan “thank you”. We are taught as youngsters this great holiday started with the pilgrims. They were thankful for a bountiful harvest after a rough start in the new world. Yet, we miss this important point: Thanksgiving is not a once a year affair. It is a way of life. Scripture tells us to give thanks in everything. And, we are to rejoice in the Lord always. For a Christian gratitude should be a way of life. However, we all know how difficult it is to be thankful in this fallen world. Life is full of hardships and complications. With this reality, gratitude requires effort. It is an exercise of self discipline to keep a spirit of thankfulness alive on a daily basis. However, by the grace of God, a Christian can use gratitude as a tool to triumph over difficulties.
When difficulties strike, it is good to begin practicing gratitude in the heat of the moment. For example, my dishwasher broke down yesterday. I had been gone all weekend traveling to see friends. When I returned, I cleaned out the fridge. There were several fuzzy moldy dishes of leftovers. I disposed of the leftovers, rinsed the dishes, and loaded the dishwasher. Those who know me, know I do not like using a dishwasher. I prefer to wash by hand. However, our new home had a dishwasher. I fell into using it when pressed for time. After being gone all weekend, I fell behind on laundry and dishes, while needing to school the children. I reasoned this would be a good time to use the dishwasher. I loaded it, closed it, punched the buttons and saw and heard nothing. I made sure the machine was closed. I checked the breaker box. I whined and complained to my husband. He examined the machine. We concluded it was broken. Immediately, I was overcome with irritability. How dare this dumb machine break down on me at a time like this? After investigation, I noticed it did not break down on me just now but stopped working when I left home the other day. I was seething with frustration. I dislike machines in the first place, but I fell into the trap of relying on this appliance. It failed me and I was angry for the inconvenience. I found my mood descending into the pit. The pit is not a good place for me to be. It is not a good place for most people in general. It is an unproductive and negative state of mind.
Immediately, I called to mind aspects of this experience for which I was thankful. Specifically, this machine could have spilled water all over the floor when it broke down. It looks as though the motor may have burned up. I was thankful it did not catch fire. Both water and fire damage is disastrous when a person is not at home. Further, I was thankful I could manually wash the dishes. The break down would purge the dependence on appliances that raise my electric and water bill. By the time, I went through a gratitude list, I noticed I was cheerfully washing dishes by hand. It took me a few minutes to change my thought process but it was well worth the effort.
Gratitude can be practiced in crisis moments or it can be practiced in a proactive manner. We have many rituals as a family that emphasize thankfulness. For instance, when I lived in KS we would go to a creek nearby my farm.
- This creek is by our old farm in KS. We paid a visit to the creek during recent travels. We stopped to engage in our thanksfulness ritual for old time’s sake.
We would pick up stones and throw them in the creek.
- The children gather together with Daddy and get ready to share praises as they cast their rocks in the creek.
For each rock we threw we would share something we were thankful for.
- Charity cast a rock in the creek thanking God for her new daddy. Here they are pictured after celebrating such thankfulness.
During a recent trip to Kansas, we drove by the farm, stopped at the creek and engaged in this family ritual. It is a tool to engrain the habit of gratitude deeply in my children’s lives. When the children see a creek, they request the ritual. With a little creativity families can fortify a habit of gratitude in their lives. Why wait for Thanksgiving? Why wait till a crisis? We can implement practices to keep our perspective positive in a variety of ways so when we face difficulties we are more apt to think, on the good. Family prayer time is also a good way to practice gratitude. One practice I would like to improve upon is listing things I am grateful for in my prayer journal. It is good to recount how God blesses us as we forget so easily.
- Practing thankfulness created ripples in this creek. Imagine how practing gratitude has a ripple effect in our lives and the lives of others.
Udderly His,
The Kansas Milkmaid
Tuesday, 1. December 2009
I also wash dishes by hand. I too have a dishwasher. It works. I use it as a giant dish drainer. I rather like washing by hand. It’s soothing. That might be a good use for yours, now that it’s broken. No more drying dishes in the drainer.
Just a thought.