Listen

Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with celebration! Come before him with shouts of joy! Know that the Lord is God— he made us; we belong to him. We are his people, the sheep of his own pasture. Enter his gates with thanks; enter his courtyards with praise! Thank him! Bless his name! Because the Lord is good, his loyal love lasts forever; his faithfulness lasts generation after generation.

Psalm 100

Think

When my husband and I got married, we wrote over 400 thank-you notes for gifts. We were extremely grateful for everyone who gave gift cards and housewares, but thinking about the 400 notes we wrote absolutely exhausts me!

According to “southern etiquette,” thank-you notes are supposed to express gratitude for the gift received and also say how one is using or plans to use the gift.

In this week of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the people in my life that I get to call friends and family. I am thankful for shelter, for food, for warmth on dreary days. I am thankful for my faith and for a God who loves me and offers grace when I don’t deserve it. If I were to write a thank-you note to God following the “southern etiquette” rules, I wonder how I would explain to God how I have “used” God’s love by showing it to others. How would you?

Molly Shoulta Tucker

Pray

Holy God, thank you for your unending love for me.

Challenge me to extend that love to others so they may know your goodness and faithfulness.

Amen.

Go

Praise the Lord for grace and favor
to all people in distress;
praise God, still the same as ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless.

Henry Lyte in “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven,” 1834