An Exercise of Thanks

Thanksgiving is upon us, so what better time to remind ourselves of the plethora of things we have to be thankful for.

Have you noticed, though, that oftentimes when we start to “count our blessings,” we get stuck in the “usual”—clothes, shelter, food, running water, etc.—and certainly those are all things worth being grateful for.  But there are so many other blessings in our lives that we often overlook, so sometimes we need prompts to help us think creatively and discover those hidden-in-plain-sight blessings that we so often take for granted.

I decided to challenge myself with one such prompt today—using the letters of THANKSGIVING to identify things I’m thankful for. Here’s what I came up with…

T: Theatre – Over the past two years, I’ve had the immense privilege of working with The Light Theater Company, a local non-profit that was begun a decade ago for the purpose of giving homeschoolers a comprehensive theater experience and of opening doors for gospel conversations through the arts. The Light Theater has given me the opportunity to use my passion for historic dance in a new outlet, to learn a new form of creative expression, to make encouraging new friendships, and to just plain have fun. And for all of that, I am thankful.

H: Holy Spirit – Where would I be without the Holy Spirit? Nowhere good, that’s for sure. He is God’s gift of Himself to me; His indwelling presence that makes His promise to never leave me or forsake me beautifully fulfilled. He is my Helper (Jn. 14:16), the deposit to guarantee God’s promise of an eternity with Him (2 Tim. 1:14), and the One who prays for me when I don’t know what to pray (Rom. 8:26-27). He bears witness that I am God’s child (Rom 8:16). For Him I am eternally thankful.

A: Animals  - Animals just make life happy. Especially dogs. Especially mine. Who can help but smile when you come in the door and this little four-legged fur ball greets you with the wagging tail and whimpers of pure delight? Or when he senses you’re having a bad day and gets as close to you as he possibly can, falling back against your chest and nuzzling you with that cute little wet nose? In these ways and so many others, animals are God’s gift to man, and for them I am thankful.

N: Norwex - I was introduced to Norwex through my mom, who was introduced to it through her sister, and it has lived up to its mission statement in my life—“Improving quality of life by radically reducing chemicals in our homes.” It’s a company that not only has amazing products that save me time and money and help me live a healthier life but also has given me the chance to see my mom thrive at something she never thought she would do and use her gifts and talents to help families improve the quality of their lives. Not to mention that the generosity of the company and their commitment to being good stewards of our earth and good employers to those who work in their factories around the world are fantastic. (Shameless plug if you want to learn more: www.pennyeanes.norwex.biz) Norwex has been a blessing in our family’s life, and for it I am thankful.

K: Kindred - Whenever I make lists of things I’m thankful for, family is usually at the top of the list. In my immediate family, that means my parents. I would most assuredly not be the woman I am today without their love, grace, and instruction in my life. And through all of life’s changes, they are my constant friends. And then there’s my extended family—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—each of whom enrich my life in unique ways and remind me often of God’s sovereignty and sense of humor. For each of them, I am abundantly thankful.

S: Songs - Songs are marvelous things. The combination of words and music, of melodies and harmonies, each beautiful on their own but enrapturing when combined. They can express intense emotion in ways that mere words cannot. They can lift our spirits, carry our imaginations to countless realms, and calm our souls. For music in general, and songs in particular, I am thankful.

G: Grapes – Grapes are little bundles of goodness, taut skin just waiting to be broken to release a pop of liquid sweetness. They are reminders of the amazing creativity of our God in that they are just one of the myriad of fruits in existence for us to enjoy. For delicious treats of nature, like grapes, I am thankful.

I: Individuality – Just like there are so many different fruits, there are even more different people, each with a unique story despite commonalities with the rest of humanity. Fundamentally, we are all the same, but God has dressed up our cores with individuality, with unique combinations of talents and experiences. Because of that, we have infinite things to appreciate about each other and ways to learn from one another. And for that beautiful, intriguing variety in humanity, I am thankful.

V: Victory – “Oh, Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever!” Because of Jesus, I have victory over sin and over death, because He has defeated them, and I am in Him. Do I always live in that victory? No, to my shame. But it is has been won nonetheless, and it makes it possible for me to put to death “the sin that clings so closely” (Heb. 12:1) through the power of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Jesus. For that possibility and the promise of coming completion, I am thankful.   

I: Inside Jokes – Admittedly, it’s not very fun to be on the outside of an inside joke, but I’ve come to appreciate even those inside jokes that I’m on the outside of. They provide a sense of connection, a bond, a certain level of intimacy that brings joy and laughter to what might otherwise be a humdrum day. And they have incredible longevity, possessing the power to reignite the flame of friendship after years of separation. They encapsulate love and laughter, and for them I am thankful.

N: Novels - Like songs, novels have an uncanny ability to express truth in ways exponentially more potent than prose. Well-written novels provide a sense of escape but still pack a punch with the truth they reveal. They lower our defenses with story, then hit us again and again with arrows of reality about our world, ourselves, and our God. They simultaneously provide fuel for the imagination, cultivation for the mind, and inspiration for the soul. For the pleasure and instruction of novels, I am thankful.

G: Grace – All of the aforementioned blessings could really be summed up in this one, for none of them are in any way deserved. That’s what grace is, after all—being given something good that you don’t deserve. And what better thing to bring us to our knees in humility and gratitude than grace? Grace is the ultimate example of the supreme goodness and kindness of God. And for it, I am immeasurably thankful.

I hope giving you a glimpse into my own exercise of thanks has prompted you to think of things that you are thankful for. I’d like to close in challenging you to make a list like this one. Use this word or another word, but do something that will make you pause and think of things that you usually take for granted. You might be surprised at what you find.

The Greatest Blessing That We’ll Never Know

When you sing a song, do you pay attention to what you are actually singing? In church, as you worship God through song, do you think about the meaning behind the words you utter? If you don’t, you should. Lyrics are powerful things—words set to music that emblazon themselves in our minds and resonate in our hearts. It would do us well to consider them carefully.

Hopefully, the music leader at your church chooses songs whose lyrics proclaim truth and reflect an accurate understanding of God and man. Even in such songs, though, sometimes there can be lines that are puzzling and require us to think a little deeper to fully understand their meaning. I touched on one of these lines from the hymn “Jesus Paid It All” a few weeks ago, and today I’d like to look at a more modern song, “Here I Am to Worship.”

There’s a line in the bridge that reads, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.” One day several years ago, as I sang this song with the congregation at church, I suddenly realized that these lyrics didn’t seem to make much sense at face value. I had sung that line countless times before but was just then truly thinking about what it said.

Why was I singing I would never know how much it cost for my sin to be placed on Jesus at the cross? I knew exactly what it cost. It cost Jesus His life. It cost Him His fellowship with the Father. Scripture shows us this. So what could that lyric be talking about?

I kept thinking.

I knew cognitively what the price of my sin is—“the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23)—and that Jesus paid that price for me so that I don’t have to. Ah, wait.

He paid it so that I don’t have to.

Maybe that was the key. Yes, cognitively I knew how much it cost for my sin to be placed on Jesus at the cross, but experientially I’ll never know how much it cost—because He took my punishment.

In ruminating on that simple line, I came to have a much deeper realization of and appreciation for Jesus’s work on the cross. While it’s true that His death was about much more than simply saving individual souls (it was about restoring all of the broken relationships that resulted from the Fall—those between God and man, between man and creation, between man and man, and between man and himself), it’s not untrue that it does have profound, eternal implications for individual souls.

Not the least of these is the possibility His death creates for us to escape the wrath of God, because it involved the pouring out of God’s wrath on His own Son, who had taken on the sin of the entire world across all time. 

So now, when we repent from our sin and believe in Jesus’s perfect life, substitutionary death, and victorious resurrection, not only are we are free to live an abundant life honoring to Christ, having been released from the bondage to sin in which we are born, but also we can say with confidence that we will never have to know the full extent of the punishment we deserve.

What a blessing—one whose magnitude, by the grace of God, we will never fully comprehend.