Thankfulness

What is thankfulness? Can a person be thankful in their own heart without out showing an outward manifestation?  Is it possible to be thankful without expressing who you are thankful to?

A person gives you a gift and you accept it.  The gift was thoughtful; encouraging; or generous; and you really like the gift.  But you never tell the person. What is the benefit to you?

Thankfulness lets the person know.  It blesses them that they have blessed you.  Why would you want to take away the blessing from them by never telling them how much their gift meant to you?  By telling them you are not only blessing them, but blessing yourself.  You are giving the gift of blessing back. 

God wants us to be thankful to him.  We can be thankful in our hearts, but we not only bless God but we bless ourselves when we express our thankfulness to Him.  Expressing our thankfulness to God gives us great joy.

How can we express our thankfulness to God?  Start the simplest way...just tell Him.  A quiet conversation, a letter, a song, a dance, a shout.  There are so many things in life that we should be thankful for, but do we ever tell God?

I am thankful for... the wonderful, God-fearing man that I married; my two fabulous kids who make my life complete; our pets, who give us great joy and laughter; my extended family, our parents--who taught us to be good people and to love God, our brothers--who are always there for us, their wives--who have made our brothers better, and my nieces and nephews--who were my first babies and my children's friends; my church family and the relationships that we have with them; for great friendships, especially the ones that I can talk to about my walk with God; my job, which I acknowledge is a place where I love to spend my time; my coworkers, who teach me how to be a better stylist and how to be a family; my clients, who I love and who get to share life stories with; my country, which is founded in the gospel of Jesus Christ; my life, which was given back to me after birth through the prayers of my parents; my home, which is beautiful and full of love; my car that lets me take passengers to church, to parks, and to friends; and much, much more that I will continue to share.

But mostly, I am thankful to God.  He is the source of my everything.  He is my love, my savior, my father, my friend, my companion, my champion, my hero, my encourager, my deliverer, my refuge, and my hope.  I commit all I am to You, Lord, because I cannot live this life without you.  Thank you for making me your child.