Being Grateful in a Thankless World

     Is it just me, or does anyone else out there struggle with procrastinating when it comes to sending out Thank You’s?  I’ve had a stack of ThankYou cards that I walk by every day with every intention of getting them sent out.  The sad thing is some have already been written and just need a stamp and taken out to the mailbox.  I’m not sure how it is in other families, but I didn’t grow up sending thank you cards.  I was taught to be thankful for what I was given and verbally being thankful isn’t an issue, but the act of formerly sending a card in the mail was not established.   

     In this day and age sending Thank You cards is almost a lost art.  When was the last time you hand wrote a letter and sent it in the mail?  We say thank you on FaceBook, in text messages, and in person but is it really the same as going out of your way to send a card?  Does it hold as much value?  This art of card giving is a (shall I say?) tradition that I would like to establish with my boys as they grow up.  

     Now sending something in the mail is important, but ultimately the gratefulness of the heart is what matters!  We are encouraged to “give thanks” forty-four times in the NKJV bible.  Forty-four times!  I would say that thankfulness is important to God.

     1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

     It is the Father’s will that we are thankful! In every circumstance, situation, in all times we are to give thanks.  How many times did an unthankful heart hinder the Israelites from getting to the promise? 

(Numbers 14)  “And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to your word…Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles…have not hearkened to My voice; surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it…

They were right there, their promise was right in front of their faces, but because they decided to grumble and complain and were not thankful for everything that God had walk them through and had done for them, they forfeited their promise.  You would think that the next generation of Israelites would have learned from their fathers and grandfathers, but over and over again they took for granted all the Father had done for them and became ungrateful.

Psalm 106:1 

Praise the Lord! 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

     It seems like generations past were a little better at sending ThankYOUs, somewhere along the line to my generation we’ve dropped the ball.  We are to honor the generations before us and build upon what they have learned.  We can’t throw thankfulness out the window!  By doing so we are setting ourselves up for unfulfilled promises.  I want my boys to inherit EVERY promise that the LORD has for them!  A thankful heart is the key!  

And now I will leave you with a song from Veggie Tales: Madame Blueberry:  

I thank God for this day,
For the sun in the sky,
For my mom and my dad,
For my piece of apple pie!

For our home on the ground,
For His love that's all around,
That's why I say thanks every day!

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!
I'm glad for what I have,
Thats an easy way to start!

For the love that He shares,
'Cause He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks every day!

You’re welcome, and I hope this song stays in your head all day! 

And yes, I'm still finishing my baby shower Thank You's!  Now if I can just remember to buy stamps! 

~ Calla Cuff