Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.—1Thessalonians 5:16–18

Recently, our two-year-old granddaughter braved shots and the drawing of blood while making a visit to the doctor. Through tears, she continually cried, “Tank you,” to the doctor and nurses. They were moved by this little girl’s gratitude, in spite of the pain.

A few months ago, immediately following  the song, “Happy Birthday,” our three-year-old grandson said, “Tank you,” without any prompting from his parents. I know I sound like a bragging grandmother, but these two incidents were very convicting to me. We teach our children to say, “Thank you,” at such young ages. Even though they may not say it exactly right, we are thrilled when they say something close! Do we continue to tell them, show them, and encourage them to express thanks as they get older?

Do our children and grandchildren see us giving thanks always for everything?

Here is another convicting statement I heard recently: “What if you only had today what you were thankful for yesterday?” Yesterday, were you thankful for the Lord, family, friends, and salvation? Were you thankful for your food, job, home, etc… yesterday?

Let us not take for granted the many, many blessings that God gives to us every day! Even those trials can bring us closer to the Lord! During this month of November, let us truly be a people who say, “Thank you” to the Lord and to others.