Because A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart

The other night, I had the most imponderable pleasure of going to a Wayne Kerr concert. Who is Wayne Kerr, you ask? Well I will tell you. He is a singer guy who led worship for my middle school summer retreats and we had so many good times together. He signed one of my t-shirts and it's probably still in the bottom of my closet somewhere. He sang this song a lot and I loved it (you can probably just listen to the first five seconds of it and get the gist of the whole thing). It was so great. 

But then I wasn't in middle school anymore (thank goodness) and I blocked out most of middle school. And then, last Sunday, Wayne Kerr came to my church and gave a concert and it was awesome to be reunited with him and there were about 12344523 middle schoolers there so the atmosphere felt the same even though I'm old now. 

At the concert, Wayne said something that made me think. I mean, I was already thinking, because my brain is always thinking, but what Wayne said was thought-provoking enough that I changed what I was thinking so that I could think about what he said.

He asked us to say a quick prayer of thankfulness to God. He said, “We are not thankful enough people.”

And the first thing I thought after he said that was, “Well, I am. I’m super thankful and I’m nice all the time and what he just said doesn’t apply to me because I make an intentional effort to be thankful always.” But I was wrong. It applies to me more than anyone else, because my thankfulness isn’t always genuine and if it isn’t genuine, it isn’t worthwhile at all.

Also I realized that when I want something, I feel like I deserve it. Like to do well in school. I say, “All I want is to make the best grades possible all the time and to be personally sought out by President Barker so that he can tell me how inspiring I am” or “I just want to never have to study, yet still beat everyone in all of my classes and all of my professors to think I’m a genius angel girl who thinks critically but not in a way that undermines their authority” and that’s a terrible thing to want because by saying “all I want” or “I just want,” it seems like these things should not be so difficult to provide and then I refuse to let myself be content until I receive those things and that’s a horrible and miserable way to live. Because what I want isn’t to simply do well in school. What I really want is everything good in the world at my disposal all the time and that’s very not realistic or what I need because if I had everything, I would never learn or grow.

What I am genuinely thankful for is people, mostly. I’m thankful for good friends who listen to me when my crazy comes out (mostly all the time), I’m thankful for food that I can eat that does not upset my stomach, I’m thankful for an allowance from my most gracious parents so that I can buy said food, I’m thankful for having a car with which to transport myself from location to location (even if it is dinky and dented and sketchy and old and moody…we’ve had a lot of good times together and I’m going to be sad when we have to be separated, although I do look forward to the future when I have a car that decides to drive and work most of the time), I’m thankful for coffee shops where I can sit and blog and drink caffeine (I love All In unconditionally, even though today they have no internet, so I’m writing this here and then I have to go somewhere that has internet so that I can actually post this to the internet), I’m thankful for Jesus who saves my life so that I can be relieved from the pressure I give myself to do everything ever. I’m most thankful for that.

Veggietales is my favorite show because 1) it’s about fruits and vegetables, which I love to eat, 2) it gives those fruits and vegetables human qualities, and I love to give human qualities to things that are actually not human, 3) it’s highly entertaining (ever seen the Belly Button Song? It’s really great and hilarious), 4) it teaches me valuable lessons that I keep throughout my life. I watched it often as a child and 5) it makes the Bible relatable to kids. Like Esther. I knew the story of Esther pretty loosely as a child, then I watched the Veggietales version of it and I understood it because they made the story detailed and vivid. I’m not saying it should replace the Bible because nothing should, but it’s a good supplement, especially for kids. And I’m a kid most of the time.

I have a lot of favorite Veggietales songs: His Cheeseburger, The Hairbrush Song, The Bellybutton Song, The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, The Bunny Song, The Water Buffalo Song, The Dance of the Cucumber, Good Morning George, The Song of the Cebu, I Love My Lips, Where Have All the Staplers Gone?...and the list goes on.

But one of the more serious ones is one that I feel applies to me right now. It’s The Thankfulness Song (have you noticed that most of their songs are “The _____ Song” ? I have. I think it’s funny).

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart

I’m glad for what I have

That’s an easy way to start

For the love that He shares

As He listens to our prayers

That’s why I say thanks every day

Writing the words to this song make me realize two things: first, that I don’t say thanks every day and I should, and second, that I really need to watch Madame Blueberry (the episode this song is from) because I haven’t seen it in a few years and it’s really great.

Psalm 107:1-3 – "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south."

He is better than good grades (although those are important) and longer-lasting than anything else I can think of because He is the longest-lasting because He endures forever.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus through you.” 

This shows me two things. The first thing is that I should do what it is telling me and be thankful to God in everything I do and every situation I find myself in, even if that situation is not what I wanted. The second thing is that I can’t do it by myself and God knows that, which is why the verse says, “this is the will of God in Christ through you.” It doesn’t say, “Hey. Do this. Bye.” It says, “Try to do this but you can’t do it by yourself so I will help you. In Christ Jesus through you.” I’m a conduit of Him and that is a great comfort to me because trying to do everything is frustrating and not possible.

So. Give thanks in all of your circumstances and lean on Him to help you do so and to get you through all situations. Be thankful because it brings so much joy! And joy is a delicious thing.

Love,
Lauralicious