Dear Rose Park,
Last week Tuesday I had lunch with Arlene Wassink at Royal Park Place in Zeeland. Royal Park was hosting a luncheon for pastor appreciation month. I arrived a little before 11:30AM and met Arlene around the table with a few other residents paired with their pastors. It was a great time to chat with Arlene, get to know her and others a bit better, and then to share our gratitude around the table.
If Arlene said ‘thank you’ once she must have said it a dozen times. She was so appreciative that I accepted the invitation for lunch; honestly, I was so grateful that Arlene made it a point to invite me. We shared stories and talked about life, but the general theme of our conversation was a sense of gratitude; Arlene and I, though very different in some respects, shared a grateful heart for all of God’s provisions, blessings, and faithfulness throughout our lives. I was filled with a similar sense of gratitude a few days later.
I was sitting on the couch holding my daughter Winnie while we watched her favorite show Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. If you’ve never seen the show, it’s a wonderful animated show based on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. In this particular episode, Daniel was making it a point to share his gratitude and thankfulness with everyone in the neighborhood. However, Daniel was concerned that his little sister Margaret, who is too young to speak, would not be able to share her gratitude. Daniel’s parents reminded him that though Margaret couldn’t say the words ‘thank you’ quite yet, she could still express her gratitude through a smile, claps, or even a hug. As I sat on the couch and held my daughter close, I was yet again filled with a sense of gratitude.
We all have so many things to be grateful for; in this season of November as we approach Thanksgiving I’d encourage each and every one of you to share your gratitude with someone else. Let’s be thankful for the obvious: ample food, warm homes, and jobs that offer us security, but let us also be thankful for the faithfulness of friends, the steadfastness of the Holy Spirit, the fellowship of the Church, the forgiveness of sins, the grace and truth of God’s Word, and the comfort of the Good Shepherd. Perhaps our thankfulness can be expressed through a handwritten card, thoughtful words, the expression of a song, or even the embrace of a hug.
However you say ‘thank you,’ let your gratitude be expressed regularly and genuinely in this season.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark