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Grateful in Every Room
As we moved into our house, Leah did some savvy shopping. She has a knack for entering a store and finding just the right piece for just the right price. (I tend to over-pay or buy the wrong thing entirely). One day she came home with the perfect decoration for our kitchen, a wooden tray, painted white with black letters that said “Thankful.” I immediately hung the piece right over our kitchen table. After all, what goes better in a kitchen than a sign that says, “Thankful?”
A few months later I spotted another knickknack in our living room (how long it had already been there I’ll never know). This is what it said, “Start each day with a grateful heart.” Initially, I assumed it was misplaced. It didn’t seem to fit in the living room. Usually you find those kind of decorations in the kitchen or the dining room, where the food lives.
After discovering this sign it occurred to me that the vast majority of the time my expressions of thanksgiving and gratitude are only made over a meal. We do a good job being thankful for our food in the Banning house, but, much to my embarrassment, I don’t do so well expressing my thanks beyond the kitchen table. What about you?
I’m reminded of the simple, but poignant words of the apostle to the Thessalonians...
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
The more I think about it, the more I realize that I have a reason to be grateful in every room of my house.
I can be grateful as soon as I walk in the door. In my entry hallway, Leah and I have hung pictures that capture our lives together. We have pictures from our wedding, pictures of our families and a picture of our first Valentine’s Day together. I can stop and find a reason to give thanks for the life that I share with my wife.
I can give thanks as I enter the living room, a room that features a comfortable couch, a television and our prized espresso maker. How can I enter that room and not be struck by the truth that we have been blessed with incredible ease and comfort? (Admittedly, this will be easier now that I have a sign to remind me).
I can look out the back window and find a reason to be thankful. I can see the sun, the grass and the trees, and an occasional squirrel scampering across the top of the fence. I can see the moon and the stars. Day to day nature pours forth speech testifying to the glory of God, and I get to be a witness. I ought to be thankful for that.
I can make my way to Ellison’s room and well up with gratitude. She has blessed our life in so many ways just because she is. She is possible only by the power, grace and kindness of God. I’m thankful.
I can turn the corner and find another reason to give thanks when I look into our guestroom. It is a room reserved for guests, a room for those who love us enough to leave their homes and their lives to invest in our life. I’m thankful for the room, but more for those who inhabit it.
I can enter my room, and if I really thought about it, I would be extraordinarily grateful that I sleep in peace every night. I sleep inside four walls without the slightest fear or concern for the safety and security of myself and my family.
After walking through my house, I could find my Bible sitting on the coffee table. I could open it up and consider the words the Holy Spirit has reserved for mankind. I could learn about God and what He has done through His Son Jesus and be thankful in all situations, even if you deleted from my life everything I just mentioned above.
I imagine your house doesn’t look too different from mine. (Even if it did, I’m sure your Bible doesn’t read different than mine). It is the will of God that I give thanks in everything, and I hope to do a better job of that moving forward. I hope to express thanks for more than my meals. I plan to notice and appreciate, to recognize and realize, the vast amount of things for which I should be grateful. Let us not only be grateful in the kitchen, but be grateful in every room.
