On Mother’s day this year, our very own Pastor Naomi brought an encouraging word on remaining grateful and I was inspired and challenged to find new frontiers to extend my gratefulness in various ways.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”.
What a thought; that it is God’s will for us to learn the art of thankfulness in all seasons. He wants us to know how to see beauty in the people around us and how to lift up rather than tear down.
As women, I believe God has bestowed upon us the mandate to find beauty in his creation, to extend thankfulness and to spread love in our families and communities.
We play a vital role in teaching those around us how to extend gratitude through the small gestures we choose to make in our day to day life. It is truly incredible how a gesture, verbal or tangible, can bring Heaven so much closer to Earth for one person.
And so, I turned to Pinterest for a little creative inspiration on tangible gestures of gratefulness. If you’re like me and love cooking, why not say ‘thank you’ through your culinary creations? If you’re a bit of a wordsmith, a letter? Could you help a girlfriend organise her kitchen to thank her for watching your kids on the weekend or, could you use a little afternoon craft time to make gifts for your children’s teacher while teaching them the importance of gratitude?
In high school, a girl in my home group used to take school diaries out of her friends’ school bags when they weren’t looking and write letters of gratitude and encouragement on random pages for her classmates to find later. Yes, I guess it was a bit cheeky, but it was definitely a creative, ‘peter-pan’ style way of valuing the people in her world.
We are bringers and bearers of light and a simple gesture of gratefulness goes a long way in spreading the love of Jesus in our community.
What can you do this week to show someone you are thankful for them?