Friday, November 19

I (Ken) have learned so much about thankfulness over the last 6 months.  Six months ago Emmy’s family moved here from Greece, Mom, Dad, and sister...to our house.  And while there are so many blessings GOD has given us through his provision for our needs in just the right moment that I’m thankful for, I have been most impressed with Emmy’s parents gratefulness.

A couple of weeks ago Emmy and I sat on the couch in our living room talking, and at one point she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, “It’s just not fair!”  What she was referring to was her parents, who had gotten home a few hours before from working all day long at Goodwill an hour away from our house, and who had just left for work at 9:00 pm for their overnight shift restocking shelves at Wal-Mart, and who were going to do the same thing all over again the next day.

She continued, “They have worked so hard for everything they have ever had, and they have nothing to show for it.  In Albania they had good jobs, not that any jobs in a communist country are good, but my mom was an accountant and my dad was a school building superintendent.  When we had to leave Albania for Greece, they worked so hard at such difficult jobs and have nothing to show for it.  And now they are here and they are working minimum wage jobs through the middle of the night and they have nothing to show for it.  It’s not fair.”

How do you respond to that?

I fumbled around with some words about everything from GOD being a gift, but as words were spilling out of my mouth I realized something.  Emmy was right, they have worked so hard and have nothing tangible to show for it, no cars, no house, no retirement account, nothing that most of us would look at and call them successful.  But they have never complained about it once.  Not in the six months that they have been living in their third country, struggling to learn yet another language, they haven’t complained once.  In fact, they walk in the house after working all day with huge smiles on their faces, and when they leave again at 9:00 pm for their second job, they leave with even bigger smiles on their faces.  They are so thankful for what they have, and what they have is their daughters.  They have sacrificed everything for their daughters to have things better than what they have and their gratitude to be able to see their children every day, to be finally reunited after 9 years apart shines through every time one of them walks into the room.

Emmy and I talked about that for a while and marveled, and realized that we have so much to learn about gratitude.

I think often times its discontentment that gets in the way of gratitude.  So much in our culture today is begging us to be discontent.  I think it would do us all some good to meditate on Paul’s words:

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. - Philippians 4.10-14

And even more so his words to Timothy:

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. - 1 Timothy 6.6-10

Ken Lippold