Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.I used to hate making gratitude lists.
It always felt like a stale assignment
given by a psychotherapist
to make you feel better about your life,
even when your life was falling apart.
It seemed far easier to make a grumbling list.
After all...
life IS hard.
For me, it started with finding the
twenty feet of mold, water drenched walls in my bed room
(see last week's devotion)
There's no better day brightener
than realizing the inside of your house walls
look more like a terrarium than a wall.
After two weeks of struggling with the house rescue,
I felt like I had had enough.
That's when the mouse ran across the stove
while I was eating my breakfast.
Great, now I have a rodent problem
That's all I need.
My philosophy on mice is,
if you don't pay rent, you are out of there.
Off to the store (on a day when I don't have time to do this,)
to get mice poison.
The next day
I discovered that my dog had fleas.
Off to the vet for medication......
off to the store for flea spray & powder.
I can't think of a better way to get a busy day started
than by shampooing the dog,
vacuuming the rugs and furniture,
washing blankets and linens
and bombing the house...
yes, that would be the same house that is under emergency rescue.
If I have learned anything,
it is never ask
What can happen next?
While working on the roof of the house,
I began to smell a foul odor.....
really foul.
The septic tank was backing up.
Let me say, there is nothing like
working on the outside of your house,
while your septic tank is acting
like a bomb ready to go off.
As the day turned into night,
I climbed the ladder to shingle the roof.
At times, I felt like tears were welling up.
It was hard to say if they were welling up because of the stench,
or because of the sequence of events that had piled up in my life during the last three weeks.
On one climb to the top of the ladder,
I looked up.
I looked up and saw the most beautiful star-laden sky.
And God spoke to me....
In everything, give thanks
for this is my will for you in Christ Jesus
My first reaction was,
You have got to be kidding!
In everything, give thanks
for this is my will for you in Christ Jesus
How does one give thanks for a backed up septic tank?
Then I remembered a trip when I had visited a squatters village in Mexico
where thousands of the poorest of the poor lived hidden in the woods in shacks
and raw sewage flowed past in the trenches.
Meanwhile, I had the daily convenience of a home with plumbing.
How does one give thanks for fleas?
Then I remembered how this dog
daily offers me unconditional love and companionship
How does one give thanks for rodents in the house?
Then I remembered I had a warm house that attracted them,
a warm home that provided shelter on these frosty autumn nights
How does one give thanks for a water damaged roof and walls?
Then I remembered the generosity of friends who came to my aid.
I remembered enjoying the beauty of autumn days and nights
while being outdoors working
rather than being in my office.
I remembered that I had the financial means to repair my house,
when I thought of the thousands in places like New Orleans
whose lives were devastated.
I was making a gratitude list while on the ladder,
but now it didn't feel like a stale assignment.
I was having a genuine thanksgiving moment,
well before the turkey ever came to the table.
I know many whose lies are being challenged.
Loss of employment,
life threatening illnesses,
the death of a loved one,
messy divorces,
loneliness.....
The key to thanksgiving
is not to pretend your problems don't matter,
but to realize that there is a greater solution beyond all of them.
May you experience a genuine thanksgiving
whether it be at the top of a ladder
or when you are at the bottom of your hope,
In everything, give thanks
for this is my will for you in Christ Jesus
(1 Thessalonians 5:18)
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