Give Thanks
with a grateful heart
Welcome to “Saturday Stories.”
A few weeks ago, I was finishing up a job. Materials left over from the job were leaning against the wall and I realized that they could be used for a small project instead of ending up in the trash pile. I loaded it up and took it home and spent a few hours that evening making something useful out of the scrap lumber to gift to the client. I wasn’t charging for my time or any extra expense that went into making this gift.
The following morning, when I went out to water the lawn, I stopped by the workbench and did some final touches on this project. I was going to load it up in my truck take it to the job and give it to the customer. While doing this I realized that the response was going to be a polite, “thank you.”
They wouldn’t appreciate the time or extra effort that went into this gift. I’m not even sure they will put it to its intended use. It might end up in a closet gathering dust, or the dump when I’m not around to notice. And I’m okay with that. I wasn’t looking for a ribbon, medal, or parade. I’m just saying that the realization of what level of gratitude would be expressed would likely be minimal. I was lowering my expectations.
More than that though, this made me reflect on our Lord’s great gift and how we respond to it. It’s Thursday morning, and on Thursday I try to focus on being thankful. I know that often my expressions of gratitude are perfunctory and mere duty. I say “Thank you,” because I am supposed to, and do so without any heartfelt affection for the One who gave everything for me.
May God give me true feelings of gratitude to accompany my words of thankfulness.
