gratitude

Growth in Prayer and Gratitude

MEGAN JUNG|GUEST “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you” Colossians 1:3). For 20 years, I’ve heard the same refrain. “I know I need to pray more...” “I know I should be grateful, but…” Regardless of location: my counseling office, a coffee shop on a college campus, or my seminary office, I have seen the exhausted, downcast, guilty expressions accompanying these words. I feel it too. I understand the tension about prayer and gratitude: I know what I need to do, and I don’t know how. Longing for gratitude and a robust prayer life is often coupled with frustration and uncertainty about how to change. Many of us feel like something stands between us, prayer, and gratitude. Some of us feel like we’re living a cosmic game of Tetris, trying to place spiritual disciplines between waking hours and a billion tasks. Not to mention a desperate need for rest. Some of us are embarrassed because we don’t feel like we have the right words. Others have pain, anger, or mistrust standing between us and the Lord. And if we’re honest, even the most mature Christians sometimes offer rote prayer and gratitude that feels boring and disengaged. (If you find yourself bathed in the mercy of a consistent, rich, grateful prayer life, we praise the Lord for His goodness to you! Please share with others how the Lord has brought you to this place. Sister, we need your witness and encouragement.) The Necessity of Prayer and Gratitude...

Growth in Prayer and GratitudeChristina Fox2025-07-09T18:29:38+00:00

A Song of Thanksgiving

SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR Folk songs tell us stories in musical form. The Smithsonian offers a collection called “Classical Folk Songs for Kids.” The recordings are songs that I remember my parents singing, and now I sing them to my grandchildren (they are all too young to notice I cannot carry a tune!). Who does not remember the words to “Big Rock Candy Mountain” and “Puff the Magic Dragon?” Hymns tell us stories as well. “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” based on Psalm 46, relates the attributes of God and records His mighty deeds. “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” tells the story from 1 Samuel 7:12 where, after God gave the Philistines over to the Israelites, Samuel set up a stone called an Ebeneezer to commemorate the spot where “Till now the Lord has helped us.” The hymn hits the hearts of everyone who has ever felt God’s redeeming love. A Thanksgiving Song The first song recorded in the Bible is one of thanksgiving (Ex 15:1-21). Moses sang it when the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians and from Pharaoh, with his host of warriors. After the final plague God brought on Pharaoh, the killing of the firstborn of Egypt including even Pharaoh’s own, Pharaoh reacted by finally relenting and letting the Israelites go. The Israelites’ firstborn were protected by the blood of the lambs painted on their doorposts. In anger, Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued the Israelites, intending to slaughter them before reaching the Red Sea. But God made a path through the Red Sea for His people, and when Pharaoh followed, the water surged around him and his chariots, destroying every last one. The Israelites witnessed the great power of the Lord and saw the Egyptians dead on the shore. With that, the Israelites “feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses” (Ex. 14:31). Moses’ response was to give God the glory and lead the people of Israel in a victory song. The Lord had demonstrated His faithfulness in a grand and glorious manner, saving the people of Israel. Selected verses from Moses’ song can provide a template for our own songs this Thanksgiving...

A Song of ThanksgivingChristina Fox2024-11-11T20:02:13+00:00

Give Thanks

LAURINDA WALLACE |GUEST The table is set perfectly—for the moment, serving dishes line the kitchen counters, and all is ready for the annual feast. Aromas of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and fresh bread drift throughout the house as everyone anticipates the call to the table. Your clock management for the Thanksgiving feast seems just as crucial as it is for the NFL coach with thirty seconds left in the game, and his team is down by one point. When everyone is finally seated, you relax while watching your family fill their plates. However, for all the preparation and cooking, Thanksgiving Day is quickly over. In the busyness of cooking, the chaos of excited children, and too much pie, we may barely remember the prayers offered, and the gratitude family and friends shared around the table. Is the reason for this festive meal already in the rearview mirror? While our calendar proclaims one day in the year as Thanksgiving Day, as God’s people, every day is an opportunity to give thanks—not to an ambiguous universe, but to the God who made heaven and earth. Saving up gratitude to the Lord for one day a year certainly isn’t what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Colossian church: And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful (Col. 3:15). Thankfulness is the Christian’s way of life. The children of Israel had short memories of God’s faithfulness and care just after the miraculous parting of the Red Sea and their rescue from the Egyptian army. Their gratitude soon switched to complaints that there was no food, and then they didn’t like the manna the Lord sent. This was just the beginning of their grumbling. I’m certainly guilty of the same, quickly forgetting how the Lord answers my daily requests for safety and provision of needs, which was recently brought to my attention. Every day, I pray specifically for the Lord’s protection over my grandsons, two teenagers and three between the ages of three and six. A lot can happen in any young man’s or little boy’s day! In the last few weeks, two incidents with my grandsons could have ended in injury or worse, but the graciousness of God kept them from harm. I don’t want to forget those wonderful mercies, but how can I make sure they aren’t?...

Give ThanksChristina Fox2024-10-31T18:42:07+00:00

The Object of Our Thanksgiving

KERRY ANDERSON | GUEST Thank you note season is here. Though a waning tradition, I’m still a sucker for nice stationery, cute note cards, and handwritten thank you’s. And while we didn’t always nail the follow through (more than once I’ve found one of those unstamped, unmailed letters months later), we really did try to have our kids and ourselves write thank you notes for the gifts received on birthdays and holidays. The content was rarely substantial or original. Most started with the expected, “Dear Grandma, Thank you for the….” But, they were something. They acknowledged receipt of the gift and expressed gratitude for it. With pressing, my children would expand a bit more about the gift and its utility or their enthusiasm for it. It was progress in gratitude, at least in practice. But something was missing As I reflect now, generating enthusiasm for the gift falls short of the goal. Maybe rather than piling up attributes toward the thing received, perhaps the first two words of a thank you note are the ones that really matter. It’s the “Dear Grandma (or whoever),” the person opening and reading that note that is critical. We could all write lengthy, detailed thank you notes for gifts we receive, but if we don’t address and give them to someone, and the giver never actually sees or hears our words of thanks, our gratitude is lacking, empty, and misplaced. It becomes merely an advertisement for a product. The Object of our Thanks A sermon on this from years ago stuck with me (bringing in grammar concepts always perks my ears up) when my pastor explained that our thanks must have an object. There must be a receiver (God) of our expressions of thanks. We aren’t to be just thankful for something we’ve received. We’re to be thankful TO God for giving it to us. As believers, the object of our thanksgiving is not the gift; it is the giver...

The Object of Our ThanksgivingChristina Fox2024-10-27T21:25:05+00:00

Fine Dining, the Titanic, and the Wrath of the Lamb

HEATHER MOLENDYK | CONTRIBUTOR If you were to observe my children while we discuss things like family vacations, clothing accessories, or entertainment activities, you would think their faces belong on posters for Compassion International. As many American families can attest, the current economic climate puts the squeeze on how far each dollar will go. In fact, a dollar usually needs to bring along a friend (or seven) in order to have any fun at the cash register. All that to say, when my husband was treated to a gift card for a posh restaurant, we were thrilled. As we parked our compact car between the luxury vehicles and navigated tables occupied by chic diners, my mood took a turn. I became about as delightful as a cat getting a belly rub during bath time. Excusing myself to wash up before lunch and to try to salvage my sour attitude, the Holy Spirit flicked me between the eyes and revealed the sin in my heart. I was coveting money. What is money? Money is a token that is traded for something that is needed or wanted. Its value is derived from the desire of another person to possess it. For example, if I need a gallon of milk and a box of cereal more than the five-dollar bill in my wallet, I will happily surrender my money to Walmart so that I can leave the store with items to feed my family breakfast. If my family desires to see the latest movie, we will eagerly put on a garage sale to trade some household goods for money to spend at the local movie theater. There have been times in history when money has absolutely no value to anyone. Remember the Titanic? As the ship was sinking into the dark, icy ocean, people of all levels of society were scrambling to climb into the lifeboats. Because there were not enough boats to save all the passengers, choices were made. In that sort of situation, no one in their right mind would have traded their seat on a lifeboat for any amount of money. Getting out of the lifeboat was a death sentence. Money would not save them...

Fine Dining, the Titanic, and the Wrath of the LambChristina Fox2023-12-01T14:41:45+00:00

Gratitude for Both the Good and the Hard

KRISTEN THOMPSON | GUEST One of my favorite childhood Thanksgiving traditions was the making of “thankful turkeys” with my family. We would list things we were grateful for on paper shaped feathers and then glue them to a cutout of a turkey. As a kid, it was easy to tape feather after feather onto my turkey: family, school, friends, candy corn, Thanksgiving Day rolls, etc. Recently, I’ve wondered why it feels harder as an adult to list my “feathers of gratitude” than it did as a kid. After all, I’ve experienced more years of God’s presence and faithfulness in my life, and I know Scripture better now than I did back then. However, more years of life have also brought more trials. Though I trust God’s sanctification of me is ongoing, gratitude is one area where it seems like the older I get, the more my natural bent is to grumble rather than give thanks—much like the Israelites grumbled after God delivered them from slavery (Ex. 15:24, 16:2, 17:3). I too am quick to forget God’s provision in my life. But Scripture is filled with calls to give thanks to God (read almost any of the Psalms or Paul’s letters and you’ll find the words “thanks” or “thanksgiving” scattered across them). 1 Thessalonians 5:18 even includes giving thanks as part of “God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Why is this such an important command, and what should we be thankful for?...

Gratitude for Both the Good and the HardChristina Fox2023-11-01T18:45:58+00:00

Giving Thanks Every Day

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST Ten years ago, I sat across the table from a dear friend whose mother had recently passed away. As we shared a bowl of cheese dip, she talked to me about the pain of losing someone so close to her. Her grief was raw; her questions were real. But what I saw even more was how she clung to Jesus through her pain. That night she shared with me about keeping a journal of gratitude through the difficult season of watching her mom battle an illness and eventually go into the arms of Jesus. Each night, she wrote out specific things she was thankful for, things she was trusting God for, and a promise of God she was clinging to. Over time, she had pages and pages filled with her thoughts and desires. Although it did not change her circumstances, it gave her perspective in the midst of life's storms. What Happens When We Trace God’s Goodness As I walked the Manhattan streets back to my apartment that night, I was challenged by the discipline of my friend and her simple practice to remind herself of truth. At that time, I was in a season where life felt mundane and so many desires were unmet. It was so easy to lay my head on my pillow at the end of the day and think that the Lord was not answering my prayers and wonder where He was in my story. That night, I decided to start keeping my own journal...

Giving Thanks Every DayChristina Fox2023-03-24T17:46:59+00:00

From Grumbling to Gratitude

MARLYS ROOS|GUEST Have you ever played Doublets? It’s a simple word game, requiring only paper and pencil. Doublets was created by math professor, Charles L. Dodgson, (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland) in the late 1870s. The object of the game is to transform one word into an opposite term of the same length, one letter at a time, in as few steps as possible. It’s easy to change “dog” into “cat” or “heads” into “tails.” Advanced players transform longer words with more steps. Although “grumbling” and “gratitude” are both nine-letter words, I’m not sure grumbling can be transformed using Dodgson’s method. It takes divine intervention. Getting It Backwards Yet turning gratitude into grumbling is easy (though not in Doublets). It’s been part of our nature since the serpent in Genesis 3 twisted God’s words to make Eve question God’s goodness. Adam and Eve had everything: the perfect life with no illness, death, troubles, or shame, plus they had the physical presence of God to walk with them. What more could they have wanted? But there was that one thing they didn’t have, couldn’t have (v.3). So, Satan contorted the truth, infected them with the first case of FOMO, and turned their gratitude into grumbling...

From Grumbling to GratitudeChristina Fox2023-03-24T17:47:24+00:00

The Secret Sauce of Gratitude

STEPHANIE FORMENTI|GUEST My family and I lived in Brazil for a little over three years. And while I grew to appreciate many things about Brazil, probably the thing I learned to love the most is the delicious food! I love the tropical fruit, the beans and rice, the meat, and the cheese bread. But the best Brazilian food is my mother-in-law’s cooking, and here is the secret to her food: she starts almost every dish by sauteing fresh garlic and diced onions in quality olive oil. It’s the base for nearly everything she cooks, and this flavor combination makes all of her food really delicious. I think gratitude is the garlic and olive oil in our walk with Jesus. Just as food can still nourish and fill me up, if it doesn’t start with my mother-in-law’s secret sauce, it lacks the deliciousness that garlic, onion, and olive oil bring to a dish. In the same way, gratitude enhances our everyday experience with Jesus by bringing flavor and beauty. We can read our Bibles, spend time in prayer, participate in godly fellowship and partake of the sacraments. Those things do provide spiritual nourishment and are essential to cultivating a love for Jesus and for others, but a posture of gratitude aids us in more vividly tasting and seeing the goodness of God. This action of giving thanks is captured in the Greek word eucharisteo. The root word of eucharisteo is charis or grace. We also see its derivative—chara— which we translate as joy. Displaying gratitude then seems to imply a connection to both grace and joy. Maybe gratitude is a repeated decision to receive grace which then results in joy. I believe this happens in our lives in three specific ways. Gratitude provides perspective. Thanksgiving reframes things for us. Gratitude is a perspective changer. It shakes us up and gives us proper sight in two ways: First, gratitude moves us from a position of ownership to a position of stewardship. It rightly places God as the giver of all things (James 1:17), the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), and the one who gives generously without reproach (James 1:5). This necessitates an acknowledgement that we are simply recipients; to receive a gift is foundationally a posture of humility. We do nothing other than stretch out our hands and accept it. Whatever we have, whether that be material goods, children, financial stability, healthy relationships, athletic prowess, or spiritual insight—we receive all of it as an immeasurably gracious gift from God. He created it all and He owns it all. Whatever we have is a gift from him. Gratitude gives us this perspective. Without it, we spend a lot of time hoarding things and even more time protecting them. We approach life tight-fisted, exhausting our emotional energy and the hours of our day fighting to protect the wealth, relationships, status, achievements, abilities, looks, and power which aren’t even ours to begin with. Secondly, gratitude moves us from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance...

The Secret Sauce of GratitudeChristina Fox2023-03-24T18:20:09+00:00

On Possessions, Contentment, and Eternity

Early in the pandemic lockdown, I was determined to be productive. Like many of my friends, I used some of my new-found time to do deep house cleaning including purging things that tend to collect in every available closet, shelf, and drawer. Before long, my Tupperware was properly matched with lids and arranged by size. The junk drawer was decluttered. Clothes were tried on to see if they “sparked joy” a la Marie Kondo. Then came the big stuff. Stuff that has not been used in years but somehow, I haven’t wanted to let go. The waffle maker that would have to be dusted to be used. Shoes that once matched an outfit no longer in style. Books I enjoyed but will not reread. Finally, the attic! Holiday decorations so abundant that every year I have to decide which items I will display because they all can’t be used at the same time. It became clear that I am clinging to too much stuff! Not that I am not grateful. In fact, I am very thankful for the abundance that I enjoy. But during this period of self-quarantining, I am haunted by the role these possessions have in my life. This was on my mind when, during a morning devotion, I read Matt 6:19-21 through this new lens. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Ouch! Have I been busy “laying up treasures on earth?” I don’t want my mind and heart to be so obsessed with the physical things in my life that I lose sight of eternal treasures...

On Possessions, Contentment, and EternityChristina Fox2022-05-04T23:46:58+00:00