Thank You

Bible Reading: Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26

“I’m full!” declared Abigail, pushing away from the table.

“Me too,” said Matthew. “That turkey was yummy!”

“Would you all like pie now?” asked Mom. “Or would you rather wait until later?”

“Later!” everyone chimed in.

Mom began to remove plates and food from the table, and everybody pitched in to help. “Let me pull the rest of the meat off the turkey bones,” Dad said when the table was cleared.

“Thanks. That will be a big help,” said Mom. “I’ll put the leftovers away, and you kids can load the dishwasher. You’ll have to wash some of the pots and pans by hand.”

Abigail sighed. “Matthew, you scrape, and I’ll rinse,” she said, and they got to work. “Oh, Mom,” Abigail said after a bit, “there are so many dishes to do today. I don’t like doing dishes! We’ll hardly have any time left to play!”

“Oh, I think you’ll have plenty of time,” Dad said. “There aren’t very many to do by hand. Most of them go in the dishwasher.”

“Yes,” said Mom. “The dishwasher is definitely something to be thankful for!”

“Well, I still don’t like dirty dishes,” grumbled Abigail.

“Hmmm,” Mom murmured. “Sometimes it’s hard to be thankful for things we don’t like, isn’t it? But how did we get all these dirty dishes in the first place?”

“We ate Thanksgiving dinner,” Matthew replied.

“Right,” said Mom. “We ate lots of food, and now we have lots of dirty dishes! So, really, we should be thankful for these stacks of dishes we need to clean because they’re evidence of God’s goodness to us.”

“Oh, I get it,” said Matthew. “God gave us all the good food we just ate, and we have lots of dirty dishes to prove it!”

Mom nodded. “The Bible tells us to give thanks in everything. Even when faced with things we don’t like, we can thank God for His goodness and for always being with us. We’re able to do that because Jesus saved us and promises to bring good out of everything we go through, even hard things.”

“Well then, I guess I really am thankful for these dirty dishes,” Abigail said as she scrubbed a pot. “But I’m also really thankful for the dishwasher!”

-Hazel W. Marett

How About You?

Have you ever thanked God for dirty dishes? How about dirty clothes? Maybe you can think of other things that aren’t fun to deal with but really are a blessing. God has given us so much, and we can give thanks in any situation because He has given us the greatest blessing of all—Jesus. Be sure to thank Him for all things, both big and small.

Today’s Key Verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (NKJV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Thank God for all He gives