Give Thanks

DiscipleNow weekend (or D-Now if your hip) was a blast. We had a good group of 6th grade girls and great leader (Halley from Lake Charles, LA). It is amazing how well behaved they can be when they know the consequence for not behaving is picking up dog poo in the back yard.

Over the weekend, I became the Bible Answer Man for several of their questions. On Saturday morning at breakfast, I was asked if Thanksgiving was a Christian holiday. This led to an interesting discussion (ok - some may say historical dissertation on my part) about the background and significance of the first thanksgiving.

But after all was said, I asked the girls why they say "thank you".

And the responses I got were interesting. All of them said "to be polite".

So, I probed a little deeper - and the secondary response I got was "to be respectful".

Then I asked them what the meaning of the words were. When you say thanks, are you showing gratitude and thankfulness because someone has provided something for you or is it the automatic response that comes out of our mouth because when we were young our parents would hover over us and say "What do you say? . . . What do you say? . . . WHAT DO YOU SAY!!!!" until you squeaked out those 2 words.

Somewhere along the training of the action, we have forgotten to train the moral reason behind the words. And frankly, I was a little surprised that even in 6th grade, these good girls knew the right words, but had not stopped to think about the meaning behind them.

As we enter into a week of thanksgiving, my prayer is my words relay the intent of my heart. I have so much to be grateful for, so much to be thankful for, and just . . . so much.

One last thought about the weekend. It never fails in a gathering like this, there is always one who just speaks a little louder than others, has just a little more knowledge than others, has an opinion more expressed than others and by the end of the weekend, you feel as if your head my explode if you hear one more word. We had one like that. But as the weekend we progressed, we learned she does not come regularly to church and her family chooses not to believe.

But Sunday morning during the worship service, God touched her heart, and at the end of the service, she accepted Christ. And again, I am amazed and grateful of how God works. He still touches the hearts of 6th grade girls who may feel like they already know it all. I pray that her new life in Christ will be wonderful and full of knowledge and thankfulness of the One who made her.