As I mentioned in my previous blog, our main ministry in Swaziland was to travel around to the different care points and do some Bible story activities with the children before lunch. (A care point is a place where local children can come to have one good meal a day- for many, it is the only meal they get each day). Our first day of ministry, my care point team and I piled into the back of Pastor Gift’s truck and set off. We drove for about ten minutes up into the hills when I suddenly saw a little girl, probably three years old, standing on the side of the road by herself. She was filthy, wearing dirt stained clothes and no shoes. As Pastor Gift pulled over, I suddenly realized that this little girl wasn’t lost- she had shown up for the care point. All by herself. At three years old. We picked her up, as well as 6 or 7 others who suddenly appeared.
When we arrived, we found a small one room house made out of sticks, and a fire pit where the go go’s (or grandmothers) prepare the food for the children. The children eagerly went and grabbed straw mats, and carried them to the shade of a tree- our classroom for the day. For the next couple of hours, we sang songs, played games, and even made up an obstacle course. While the children were very shy and timid at first, they slowly opened up. 
After the games, I told them the story of when Jesus heals the blind man, and I explained how after Jesus healed him, the man went away praising God. Originally, I had planned to simply explain to the children that we can praise God too. But as I started talking, for some reason I began a lesson on being thankful. I told the kids that when God gives us something, like food or clothing, we should thank him- just like the blind man. Now, the whole time I was saying this I was thinking to myself “Seriously? You are going to give these kids a lesson about being thankful? Look at them, what do they have to be thankful for?” But I kept going, and I ended up asking the kids to raise their hands and say some things they are thankful for. I was seriously doubting whether or not any of them were going to answer when one of the little boys, probably 8 years old, raised his hand. “We’re thankful to be alive,” he said.
Ouch.
As the day continued, I could not get that little boy’s words out of my mind. How often have I complained on this trip for one reason or another? I’m hungry or I’m thirsty or I’m tired or I’m dirty and the list goes on. And when I do open my mouth to pray, normally it is not to thank God, but to ask Him to change my circumstances. How often do I take the time just to thank God for all of the many blessings in my life? Not that often.
Whenever I am feeling particularly upset or grumpy, my dear teammate, Kelly Ramp, makes me play a little game we call “the blessings game.” Basically, she makes me list all of the things I’m thankful for so that I will realize that I really don’t have it that bad after all. However, I am learning that God doesn’t want me to just play the “blessings game” when I am upset about something. He wants me to play it all the time. And that should not be a hard thing for me to do. When I really think about how much I have been given and how much I have to be thankful for and how rarely I take the time to thank God, I am broken by my own selfishness.
This is definitely not something I have down. Definitely not. But it is something I am working on, and I am praying that God would give me a grateful heart. And not just a heart that is grateful when things are going my way. But a heart that can give thanks all the time, in all circumstances. Whether things are going my way or not,
I am thankful to be alive.
“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thes. 5:18
