Gratitude.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34
Back in the day when I was as old as this child, my family said the ‘Come Lord Jesus…’ prayer before our meal and the above verse from first Chronicles was our prayer after our meal. This photo brings back a lot of memories for many different reasons. I didn’t take the attached photo of the Haitian child giving thanks. Denise Gudlin shared it with me. The reverence in his face speaks so much to us about how thankful this child is for his lunch from Trinity HOPE. There is so much more about this photo that causes me to give thanks for this school and how blessed these children really are, living in Port-au-Prince. The high temps there this week have been in the low 90’s and there is no air conditioner cooling down this classroom. But…he has food! And what also caught my attention is the resource materials in the shelves behind him. This child is giving thanks for all that our Heavenly Father has given to him.
I read a short article on ‘gratitude’ recently and want to share that with you this Saturday as we face many challenges in this time of many uncertainties. “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie, Writer.
Tomorrow, when you are standing in Church sanctuary, and you have an opportunity to give thanks, silently, please consider this child giving thanks and apply that to your world today; what is there to be thankful for today.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay