A few years ago I became confronted with my own ingratitude. I sensed a gentle prompting from the loving Spirit of God to create a “Thanksgivings” board. I secured a large sheet of posterboard and for ten days I penned fifty “thanksgivings” each morning. It was life-transforming.
First of all, I found that people dominated the list, especially my wife, children, grandchildren and extended family. (They covered a whole day alone). Secondly, as I penned God’s graces of forgiveness, mercy, hope, joy and more, I felt my heart warmed and drawn even closer to my Heavenly Father.
What really surprised me were the mundane, everyday sort of things we take for granted like our five senses or our abilities to stand, walk, talk or go to work. Things like spinach and collard greens, butterflies and grouper, cheesecake and ice cream brought a smile to my face as I reflected on the pleasure they provide. Why so many days of life gone by without whispering a word of thanks for those simple pleasures?
Then I remembered---the Bible says to give thanks in all circumstances. It declares that our amazing God even brings good out of our bad. So I filled the board with fifty things I considered “bad," but even as I wrote them I saw how God had used them for good.
Maybe we don’t all need to make a thanksgiving board to foster gratitude in our lives, but it wouldn’t hurt to have five hundred “thank yous” etched on our hearts as a reminder of the goodness of God.