Every year during the month of November, I reflect on gratitude.  For the past two Novembers, I’ve daily posted on  Facebook one thing I am thankful for.   It has been a positive activity, but I feel it’s run it course.   This year I’ve decided to keep a “gratitude journal”  instead.  So,  I’m going to journal my way through November and share the highlights on my blog.

I found a really neat quote about being thankful,

“Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.” -Alan Cohen

I thought this was good.  Having an appreciative heart is so much more productive than have an unappreciative one.  I always think it’s a little sad when someone expects something or is not appreciative and they shine their light on things they don’t have instead of things they do have.   That produces a heart full of selfishness, which leads to disappointment!  Where does it stop?

Last year I went on a missions trip to Burundi, Africa, one of the poorest and hungriest countries in the world and one of the things that gripped me the most was the gratitude the people expressed.  The Burundians who ran the ministry were so thankful that we came.  They gave us a certificate of appreciation and a small gift when we left.  Imagine that, people who live in one of the hungriest countries in the world gave us a gift just because we came.  How many people in the states would expect us to come and barely say thank you, much less give a gift and certificate.

Another thing the Burundians do is that they sing “God Is So Good”  African style.  Even though they are “poor” in our eyes, they are rich because they appreciate what they have and how much God has done for them.

Something to think about!