Post by contributor Jen from A Heart for My Home.
At the beginning of this year I made a commitment to myself to be intentional with my gratitude. A commitment to not just tell people I appreciated them but to show them.
Some people, of course, know they have been an influence to you or others but sometimes people make a huge impact in and on our lives and they may never even realize it.
The first person I was intentional with my gratitude about was my Aunt. An awesome Christian woman that loves The Lord first and then her family. It was because of this Aunt that I first came to know Jesus. I have mentioned before that I did not grow up in a Christian home.
I grew up with parents who believed in God but we were not taken to church by them regularly. My parents never prayed with us in fact I have never seen or heard them pray to this day. They may do it but I have not been witness of it. They didn’t do devotions with us and discuss the Word with us but you know what this particular Aunt of mine did.
She took me to church. She took me to church camp, even paying my way and calling it my birthday present for years. She hauled me to many different church relates activities my entire childhood and well into youth.
And while this selfless act of hers was not something I ever really thought much of when I was younger as I have become a little older and a little more mature in the Word I have come to realize that without her doing this for me it is hard to tell where I would be now. Because of her love for The Lord and for me I am the woman that I am today.
So I wrote her a simple thank you note (ok, it was a rather long thank you note) detailing the various things that she did for me and telling her what that mean to me and how much I appreciated her and then I dropped it in the mail.
From the time I originally planned to send this note until I actually did was probably a couple months. But God’s timing is perfect! A few days after I sent the card I got a phone call from my precious Aunt thanking me for the card and she went on to say that she had been having a bad week and a bad day.
Different things had happened to make her question whether or not she was making a difference in the world. Her children at church in her Awana class didn’t seem to be learning what they needed to and she was doubting her ability and really having a down in the dumps few days (I never knew she had these, lol) but then she checked her mail and in God’s great timing there was my card with a letter written inside from my heart to hers telling her just how much of a difference she had made in not only my life but in my children’s lives and in future generations of my family to come.
I am telling you this to encourage you to be intentional with your gratitude. At this time of the year everyone is thinking of all the many reasons they are thankful and of the things they are grateful for.
If you have someone or several some ones that you appreciate take the time to let them know. It can be such am encouragement to others. While I started this at the beginning of this year I am not stopping. I am continuing on throughout the end of the year and right on into the new one.
It’s not hard.
- Make a list of some people who have made a difference in your life. People that you are thankful for.
- Decide how you want to show your thankfulness. Is it through a card like me, a gift, some homemade treat or a simple phone call?
- Do it. Take the time and just do it. Pick one person and get started showing your thankfulness to them. You will be so glad you did.
Can you think of people in your life that have influenced you for the better?
WANT TO SPEAK WITH GRACE TO YOUR KIDS INSTEAD OF YELLING?
