Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
For the past few weeks, I have been in the weirdest mood. Good weird, but still weird. I couldn’t figure out what it was, and I couldn’t put it into words no matter how hard I tried. Then, last night, I finally realized what this mysterious feeling is. Immense amounts of thankfulness.
Obviously I’ve been thankful before, but it has never been this overwhelming. So overwhelming that I pause my music while driving to school to pray and thank God. So overwhelming that even the thought of complaining about something makes me feel dirty. So overwhelming that I can’t help but be happy and smile, no matter what is going on in my life.
I don’t remember exactly when this all started. I don’t remember where I was, what I was doing, or who I was with. All I remember is the words “I am so hungry” coming out of my mouth, and me immediately wishing I could take them back. A picture of Uganda flashed in my mind, as well as the vast levels of poverty that I witnessed. I remembered being hungry during the days I spent there, but always knowing we would be going back to the compound eventually to eat dinner. Some of the people we met did not have this same guarantee. And now I’m back in Iowa, where I am literally surrounded by food. If I want food at home, I can walk to the kitchen. If I want food at school, I can sneak off to the journalism lab where we have a secret stash of snacks. I even have food in my car. The possibility of starving is so incredibly, microscopically small that complaining about being hungry is just a waste of words. I don’t feel like I even have the right to complain about being hungry. And I am thankful for that.
Thursday morning, I was driving to school while jamming out to my music. I was belting some random lyric way out of tune when the sunlight shone through the windshield and directly into my eyes. At first I was annoyed, but then I squinted to, ya know, see. And when I squinted, I saw how beautifully the sun was shining through the trees. I looked around me in awe, which probably wasn’t smart because I was driving. But whatever. I was fine. I’ve lived in Iowa my whole life, and it’s not exactly the most attractive state. Yeah, we have good sunsets every once in a while, but that’s about it. Cornfields aren’t very pretty. But as I was in my car that morning, it was like I was seeing things through a new light. The trees, the squirrels, the clouds, the sun, everything just took my breath away. The world we live in is so gorgeous. As soon as my annoyance turned to amazement, I switched my music off and just began praying. I thanked God for creating this world, and for allowing us to live here. I thanked Him for the very sun that was giving me a headache. I thanked Him for giving me eyes to see His beautiful creation. I thanked Him for me running late to school that morning, because if I had left five minutes earlier the sun might’ve been behind the trees and not hit my eyes and gave me that realization. I continued praying until I got to school, and I was in a much happier mood for the rest of the day. I was just so thankful for everything around me.
I have an amazing support system, and I am surrounded by friends and family who I know are always there for me. But this doesn’t mean we never have our issues. I might be fighting with my parents about something stupid, or I’ll be annoyed with my brother just because he’s my brother. Or maybe a friend said something that rubbed me the wrong way, or they cancelled plans that I was looking forward to all day. These things happen, and they can easily put me in a bad mood. It’s usually my first instinct to go rant to someone who isn’t involved in the situation, and get them as riled up about it as I am. But something happened recently that put things into perspective for me. My friends and family may get on my nerves sometimes, but more often than not they are the people that I depend on the most. People that I could not live without. I shouldn’t complain, because there are people who don’t have as amazing a support system as I do. I need to be thankful for what I have, because I never know when something could cause me to lose it.
As I was trying to figure out how to put how I’ve been feeling the past few weeks into words, these were just a few of the situations that came to mind. And as soon as I was able to put a name to the feeling, I became so much more mindful of my actions. Being as privileged as I am, it is easy to forget that not everyone has what I do. And so while being thankful for some things comes naturally, we need to be thanking God for literally everything. We need to be thanking Him for the clothes on our backs. For the heat in our homes on cold days and the air on hot ones. For the good times in our lives and for the bad ones. Because we owe it all to Him.
On that note, I just want to thank God for working through all of my amazing supporters. I honestly could not do this without you guys. I never expected the response I have gotten from everyone, and it has just blown my mind. God truly is good.
As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions at all and I would love to do what I can to answer them. I will never grow tired of talking about what God has called me to do.
With love,
Brooklyn Dilley
