Much Obliged

The wise advice from sources as varied as Mom and God Himself tell us to be thankful. But for what, exactly, does this apply?

In her thought-provoking book entitled “One Thousand Gifts”, Ann Voskamp makes the observation that to simply say I’m thankful for everything is to actually be thankful for nothing. She accepted a challenge, therefore, of listing at least one thousand specifics for which to express gratitude. Ann included items like colored bubbles in soap suds. Personally, I’m not that poetic, but I get the point.

Being thankful for everything is frankly difficult for me. Hunger, war, disease, poverty … they just don’t seem to deserve appreciation. (Though I must heed the scriptural command to find reasons to give thanks if ever I face such horrible circumstances.) There are, however, many thousands of gifts in my life that make me truly grateful.

I’m much – very much – obliged.