Thanks

Give Thanks in All Things

Be thankful in all things.  I Thessalonians 5:18

I was taught to say, “thank you.” 

It’s polite.  It’s good manners.  It’s proper.  It is the right thing to do.

And sometimes those “thank you’s” seem strange.  Recently when ending an annoying political survey telephone call I said, “thank you,” at the end of the call.  Why was I saying “thank you?”  I certainly did not feel grateful. I hadn’t learned anything.  I hadn’t enjoyed the call.  Polite habit pulled the words from my scowling lips without me thinking about it.

I have done this before.  I have said “thank you” even when I wasn’t feeling grateful.  It isn’t merely that I have thanked political survey telephone callers for calling me.  I have thanked bill collectors for taking my money.  I have thanked insurance companies for giving me bad news.  I have thanked employers for firing me.

But that isn’t really being grateful.  It’s just being polite.  And our gratitude to God is not supposed to be polite thanks.

He doesn’t tell us to SAY “thank you.”  He tells us to BE thankful.  BE grateful.  BE aware of His gifts.

It is more than mouthing the words.  It is more than gathering once a year and muttering a few benign comments just before digging into the turkey and mashed potatoes.  It is more than getting emotionally mushy when thinking about family gatherings.

Being thankful means being aware that HE is really the One responsible for your bank account.  Your dining room table.  Your income.  Your security.  Your family.  Your friends.  Your health.  Your shoes.  Your teeth.   Your personality.  Your pick up.  Your microwave.  Your snow blower.  Your front lawn.  Your son returned from Iraq.  The safety of your neighbor still IN Iraq.  Your radio.  Your dog.  Your everything.

Do more than give thanks.  BE thankful.

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Wednesday        6:00 pm               JubiWednesday

Sunday                 10:00 am             Prayer

                                11:00 am             Worship

November 21 7:00 pm Hobby in the Lobby/Book Club “Cards on the Table” by Agatha Christie.  Led by DeAnne Penning

November 27  Thanksgiving Eve Dinner at 6:00 Hooray!

December 6, 7, 8  5:30 – 9 pm  Living Nativity 

December 8 Chili cook off and Christmas celebration at the Sunnydale Community Center.

December 15 7:00 Andrew Peterson Sort of Here!

Decomeber 24 6:00 pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service