Tattoo, Lord

One of my daughter’s first sentences as a toddler was, “Thank you.” Her exact pronunciation was “tattoo,” as I recall, and she said “tattoo” on a regular basis—her mom and dad made sure.

Unfortunately, raising grateful children isn’t as easy as teaching them to say thank you when they’re young.

Countless times, throughout my daughter’s growing up years, I had to sit her down and remind her of how blessed she was and how thankful she should feel.

No, her life wasn’t perfect, her body wasn’t perfect, and her mother wasn’t perfect, but her blessings outnumbered the sands of the sea. She could walk. She could talk. She could see. She could hear. She could taste. Indeed, countless people would love to be her.

Author Melody Beattie once said, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and MORE. It turns denial into ACCEPTANCE, chaos to ORDER, confusion to CLARITY. It can turn a meal into a FEAST, a house into a HOME, a stranger into a FRIEND.”

In other words, gratitude has valuable rewards.

Of course, ingratitude has its own set of rewards, but they aren’t so valuable.

Young or old, rich or poor, ungrateful people live defeated, miserable lives. The more they’re given, the more thankless and demanding they become.

In his devotional, “The Attitude of Ingratitude,” Woodrow Kroll tells a great story of a tourist, visiting Mexico where hot springs and cold springs run side-by-side.

While watching the women boiling their laundry in the hot water and rinsing them in the cold, the tourist commented to his guide, "I imagine they think Mother Nature is pretty generous to supply such ample, clean, hot and cold water here side-by-side for their free use."

The guide replied, "No, Señor, there is much grumbling because she supplies no soap."

At best, ingratitude can become a habit, difficult to break. At worst, it can become a life-long disposition, where nothing is ever enough.

I, for one, have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season, and I refuse to focus on anything negative in my life. I have health and strength, food and shelter, family and friends, and faith that keeps me grounded when life is unpredictable and hard. Indeed, it is all I need and much, much more than I deserve.

So from grateful me, to generous you, Lord, Tattoo.