I will never forget the Thanksgiving meal I fixed last year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysi. From the $30 turkey to the made-from-scratch pumpkin pie, it was quite a spread. And while I loved getting to break bread and give thanks with a solid group of my brothers, let’s be honest…turkey just doesn’t taste as good as it does when eaten in the presence of the people you love most. I was reminded of that tonight after spending the day with my family.
Thanksgiving is a funny paradox, because most of us think of it as a single day of the year. Yet, isn’t thanksgiving a constant state we’re called to live in as believers?
The truth is quite simple: I don’t live in a constant state of thanksgiving.
A much more accurate state: I complain, worry, and stress.
But, our Dad opened my eyes to see what there is to be thankful for. He took me on an 11-month trip down the road to Damascus, a trip that we learned, had de-masked[us].
For when the scales fell off our eyes and we opened up wide to the sight of home, ordinary things began to look so majestic.
Suddenly I found myself almost in tears in sheer appreciation for the hot shower I was taking and for the closet of freshly laundered towels that awaited me with a clean scent.
I was in awe of simple tasks, like brushing my teeth.
To walk into a heatedroom with a tile floor, flip on a light switch, turn a knob and get
gallons of fresh, clean, cold water endlessly pouring over my electric
toothbrush…it still to this day blows me away.
Unless you’ve trekked a quarter mile in the cold night air to a hole in the ground in which you used before brushing your teeth using a few tablespoons of water out of your only bottle, all while seeing your way thanks to the headlamp strapped to your forehead, none of this will really mean much. And that’s okay.
But–take my word for it–we have absolutely no reason to not live in a constant state of thanksgiving.
Abba, Thank You! You have blessed me with abundantly more than I ever deserve. May I never take for granted the beautiful things you have provided, great or small. Thank you most of all for loving me. Spirit fill me with an everlasting state of thanksgiving. Amen.
