In the Habit

A little over 25 years ago, my dad worked with an unmarried guy. He also knew a single lady at his church. Dad thought they would really get along, so he introduced them to each other. They fell in love and got married. 

And every year on their anniversary, they gave my dad a little gift to thank him for the lifelong love they found in each other. Yesterday, on their 25th anniversary, they invited my parents over for a delicious home-cooked meal to honor my dad and say thanks.

I'm not usually sentimental, but that story really touched me. Maybe because one person's good idea changed two lives forever. Maybe because it involves my dad, who as far as I know has never set up anybody in his life outside of these two people. Maybe because I've always loved the idea of being a matchmaker :)

Or maybe because it demonstrates thankfulness.

It wasn't that long ago that I wrote a blog on being thankful. And of course I wrote about being thankful at Thanksgiving, which led to yet another blog on being thankful. So I understand if you feel like I'm cramming this thankful stuff down your throat.

But I think it's something I don't do well. I WANT to. But I don't. And every time I see real thankfulness and am touched by it, I know it's God showing me that He wants me to be thankful, too. Really thankful. 

I love that the couple thanked my Dad, not just when they got engaged or got married, but every year since then. But I wonder how far they take this thankfulness thing? 

• Is they guy thankful for the job he had that enabled him to meet my dad?
• Is the lady thankful for the circumstances that brought her to our church, good or bad?
• Are they thankful for my dad when marriage is hard? (It is! For everyone!) 
• Is the guy thinking positive thoughts about my dad when his wife has PMS? 
• Is the lady thankful for Dad when her husband leaves his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor?

That may seem a little extreme. But I'd like to suggest that maybe the reason they are still thankful after 25 years is because thankfulness is a habit with them. Every year they thank my Dad. They don't forget on year 25 because they've done it 24 years in a row.

SO...how much of a habit is your thankfulness?

Now, before I get too deep into this, I need to remind you that we thank God, not just the people or circumstances or situations or locations  that brought blessings into our lives. We are thankful FOR those things, but we thank God for arranging them. Because He ordained it. It was His idea. His plan. His plan. We aren't just ambiguously "thankful." THANK GOD. 

Is being thankful a habit of yours? If not, how do we make this a habit? (I'm asking for myself here.) How do we get thankfulness into our routines like washing our face and brushing our teeth?

I'm going to toss out a few ideas. Feel free to comment below with your own.

• Be intentionally thankful when you do things that are already a habit. What's something you do every single day? Something mindless? Decide to spend your shower time or your morning commute or your flossing time being intentionally thankful.
• Make it part of your daily worship time. (If you don't have this set aside already, maybe start here! Spend just a few minutes every day being thankful!) Before you leave your "closet" (Matthew 6:6, KJV), thank God for yesterday. And today. And the sleep you got. And whatever else is at the top of your mind and the tip of your tongue, good or bad. Thank Him for it. IT IS PART OF YOUR WORSHIP.
• Make a list. (A big one.) This seems goofy, but what if you had a thankful notebook? I started one years ago when I read 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. [Time out: If you haven't read this book, YOU MUST. Like, order it today.] I have dedicated an entire journal to being thankful. For years. And very few things thrill my soul like going back through it and reading what I wrote months and years ago.
• Set a time. When are you at your peak? Give yourself a certain time every day to be thankful. (And make it specific: 11:32. 3:14.) Set your alarm to go off every day at that time. And stop what you're doing to thank God for one minute. 

There's a Biblical precedent for this, and it's a gem: 

Daniel was born in Israel and deported to Babylon when he was a young man. He stood up for his beliefs when it came to what he ate (Daniel 1:8-20). He quickly moved up in the hierarchy of Babylonian rule because God granted him wisdom (Daniel 2:20-24). After a time, the Babylonians were overtaken by the Persians, and the Persian leader Cyrus found Daniel just as wise and valuable as the Babylonian rulers had. So wise and valuable, in fact, that he was second in command only to Cyrus himself. This made the other leaders insanely jealous, so they concocted a plan to trap him for his faith: for 30 days, anyone caught praying to a deity other than the king would be thrown into the lions' den. Cyrus, not seeing it was a trap, signed the law (Daniel 6:1-9).

Here's where it gets good:

"When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before," (Daniel 6:10, HSCB, bold and italics mine).

He gave thanks.

Just as he had done before.

HABIT.

I want that habit. I want that thankfulness. I want that relationship with God. I want that mindset.

And I want it for you, too.

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