An Attitude of Gratitude

Yesterday evening we were out walking on Pakefield Cliffs. I was grateful. The sea, the beach, sunshine, a gentle breeze, pleasant people smiling and saying ‘Good evening’…

Children and grandchildren had joined us for Sunday lunch. There was conversation and laugher. I was grateful. I don’t take family for granted. Later we walked through Kirkley Cemetery. We recognised one or two names. We are grateful for the gift of life….

I remembered my Aunt Helen. Her husband died during the war; she spent many years alone as a missionary in North Africa. Visiting us when she returned to the UK. I remember her saying ‘The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.’

At the time I didn’t know what it meant. I later discovered it was a quote from Psalm 16 in the old King James Bible. A more modern version says: ‘The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance.’

Aunt Helen had very little, but she was grateful for her life and what she had.

Musing this morning on Peter healing the lame man (Acts 3). The nameless man was grateful for:

• Helpfulness: Peter and John stopped to talk to a beggar – who most people ignored.
• Healing: There was a dramatic miraculous change in his life – he could walk again.
• Happiness: He was walking, leaping, praising – and celebrating!
• Holistic: This was not just physical healing – he was changed psychologically, emotionally. His whole life was changed.
• Hope: He was now able-bodied. He had a future and hope.

A couple of years ago I read ‘Choosing Gratitude’ by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. It influenced my life then – and it still does. She describes gratitude as a way of life; it a daily choice that I make purposefully, deliberately… Today I choose to be grateful.