#240 - $1.79

Ephesians 5:4b -  ... voice your thankfulness [to God].

Proverbs 31:28a - Her children rise up and call her blessed...

Have you ever learned a simple lesson that caused your heart to melt? From the unexpected, that you just thank God for having eyes to see & ears to hear. The kind of lesson that really makes you step back and look at your own attitude & gratitude. I recently had just that kind of lesson. 


One night this week I was driving in the car with both kids running a few errands. Tyler Jr was being such a good boy and listening so well, I wanted to reward him for his obedience. As we were at our last stop, I went ahead and got him some candy. It wasn't anything too special. It was a sucker... $1.79 sucker, so it was a good one. Before we took off, I opened it up and gave it to him, and here's where the lesson began. He said, "Thank you Mommy candy. Thank you Mommy candy." For a 2 year old, he's pretty good at saying please & thank you, so I wasn't surprised to hear it. I responded with a smile, "You're welcome." Politeness can go a long way. Well, over the next 15 minutes as we drove home, periodically Tyler Junior would pipe up again and say, "Thank you Mommy candy. Thank you Mommy candy." He continued thanking me for the candy. He was really enjoying it and he kept letting me know. Each time he thanked me, my heart began to melt. That something so little as a sucker, could cause such thankfulness from my 2 year old. Each time I responded with something like, "You're welcome buddy. Mommy really appreciates you being such a good boy tonight." 


This morning as I started to journal and get into the Word, the Holy Spirit stopped me. He reminded me about how far a grateful heart could take you. True, honest, genuine gratefulness. Thankfulness. A heart of gratitude. A heart that thanks our Father for all that He has done & all that He is doing. I started thinking about ALL the many blessings I had to be thankful for. Would my Father take the same amount of pleasure if I were so verbally thankful, like Tyler Junior? Even if I thanked Him for something that I had already thanked Him for once? Would He like my thankfulness? Absolutely. I have been made in His image. As my heart melted hearing my doll baby, my 2 year old sincerely look at me and thank me for his candy probably 6-7 different times, it made me thankful that I bought it. It made me want to do more good things for him. I believe our Father is the same way. I believe our Father wants to bless us and our thankfulness causes the same response in Him. The response that says, "I just want to bless my daughter more. I want to do more for my son. His thankfulness, her thanking Me makes it all worth it. How else can I bless my child?" 


As I drove that night, I was beaming. It was worth it. I learned a great lesson in gratitude for $1.79.