We are so blessed by God and by people around us. Yet in a society, which seeks ‘instant’ satisfaction, it is easy to take many things for granted and not really demonstrate appreciation. We are raised to say ‘thank you’, but so often it comes out of our mouths automatically without really thinking about how grateful and appreciative we are. Our society has many expectations - good service, to have meals, to be warm and comfortable in a home, and because we’re used to this kind of lifestyle it’s easy to lose a sense of gratitude and appreciation. Saying thank you is sufficient, and is right thing to do, yet have you considered how by going out of our way to show appreciation we can bless others and make them feel valued? When we show appreciation, we can make such a difference to someone’s day. A thank you note, a surprise gift, a letter commending good customer service to an employer, or a smile and a word of appreciation to cashier at checkout are some of many ways we can show gratitude. Often showing appreciation, a short time after someone has blessed us, touches a person’s heart, as it demonstrates that what he or she did was noticed and appreciated. It costs us so little to take a moment to take someone aside to say thanks, you did a good job, and yet it can mean so much!

Being a thankful people is God’s heart for us. Scripture tells us many times to give thanks, give thanks to God, and also to those around us. To be known as a person who is thankful, showing gratitude and appreciation for all things that we have been given reflects God’s love to world around us. Our life is a gift, our health, all we have, and all ways that people serve and give to us are gifts, not rights we can demand or expect. Col 2v7 encourages us to be overflowing in thankfulness. Let this year be year when we grow in our thankfulness, and take more time to show others our appreciation for them as individuals, and things that they do.

Barbara White copyright 2005 www.livingbeyondbetter.com

By way, for those of you who don’t speak baseball, bear with me just a moment…

Did Hafner dream about getting hit by a pitch? Not likely. He’s a designated hitter—his purpose on team is to step in and hit ball, not have ball hit him! But if you think about it, is his purpose really to hit ball? Or is it to win game? If you put it in that perspective, then he did exactly what he was supposed to do. He won game for his team. It may not have been his preferred means, but he accomplished his end. A win is a win in final tally.

When we’re working on manifesting a goal, what are we focusing on? Are we thinking about means, or end? It’s one thing to think, “I need money,” knowing you need it to buy a new car, and another to focus on “I need a new car.” Is it really money we want to manifest, or is it car? Maybe we win car in a lottery. Maybe we inherit it from a long-lost uncle. But we have new car, and it wasn’t money we were after anyway.

It’s not up to us to determine “how”; universe is smarter than we are, and will do that for us. We need to look clearly for “what,” and trust that universe, Divine, can handle “how.”