6th Sunday of Eastertide: Recording Gratitude

Our theme for Eastertide is finding joy as we faithfully do the small things, so today we will look at recording gratitude.

One of the best gifts I was ever given was a gratitude journal. Each page was for one day of the year (say May 9th), but had designated spaces for 5 entries. So my gratitude journal will be used for 5 years, before I need another one. The benefit of this design, instead of just using a notebook and filling it out year by year, is that I can look back at things I was grateful for a year ago on this day or three years ago on this day. 

The Bible encourages gratitude (see Colossians 3:16 in the NIV, Hebrews 12:28-29 NASB, Colossians 2:6-7 NASB, and 1 Timothy 4:4-5 NASB), as well as being thankful/offering thanksgiving (over 30 results in the NIV). Additionally, commands to glorify (19 results in the NIV) and praise (over 360 results in the NIV) are quite common as well. 

The core of gratitude is telling God "Thank You" for what He has done. Our society is very individualistic and self-centered, so the natural temptation is to thank ourselves for what we have done (i.e. I'm thankful that I cooked dinner and cleaned the kitchen), but if our goal is to thank God, then we need to rephrase our sentiment (i.e. Thank You for the energy to cook dinner and the motivation to clean the kitchen). 

When we start looking for things to be thankful for, there is so much to notice, both big and small. Below are some prompts to consider thanking God for:

Favorite things, such as foods, drinks, or clothes 

The weather and the changing seasons

Energy/motivation/strength to do tasks

Timely reminders to do/take things 

People in your life

Work days and Rest days

If you are struggling to come up with ideas, looking up some Jewish blessing-prayers might give you some ideas. The site Hebrew4Christians has plenty of prayers recorded that can be adapted for your gratitude journal. There's a prayer for waking up, eating bread, smelling fruit, having a need met, hearing thunder, seeing something beautiful, seeing a rainbow, and so much more.

Let's try to write (or type) a thank you note to God this week. It can be as long or as short as you'd like. You can format it like a thank you note you would write when you get presents (Thank You for a warm cup of tea on a cool evening. Peppermint is my favorite flavor) or just a simple "Thank You for ____." 

What are you grateful for? What can you thank God for?