Thinking about thanks with a gallery of reasons I’m grateful

How much time and energy do we give to gratitude at Thanksgiving? Perhaps not much, with all the effort required to plan, travel, clean, or cook. For some weary hosts or travelers, the greatest gratitude may come simply in seeing the holiday finished!

But I don’t mean to be cynical here, only realistic. And the reality for me is that I have so many reasons to be thankful. I’ve written before about the therapeutic benefits of gratitude, and more than one reader has chimed in to offer their own testimony. I promised in this space earlier to be more intentional about giving thanks, and today, on the day before the American Thanksgiving, I want to make good on my commitment.

I’ll post a picture gallery to show some of the goodness that makes my wife and me grateful.

Pictures of gratitude

First off is a line-up including my wife with several of her cousins and spouses, plus her brother and his wife. They came one September weekend from Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, and Ohio to gather here north of Cincinnati for a two-day reunion. We hosted them at our home for two of our three meals together. Lots of laughter. A constant stream of catching up. More, much more, than enough to eat. And plenty of help from all of them to get the food on the table and then the dishes into the dishwasher. We’re so glad they came.

Next is a picture of our friend Barb Poston who used the Walk to End Alzheimer’s sponsored by Christian Village at Mason to raise more than $1,500 for Alzheimer’s research.

Midway through her persistent fund-raising campaign, she appealed for gifts in honor of Evelyn. That, and her offer of homemade cookies to every local donor, pushed her way over her goal. Then, on the day of the walk, she invited us for tea and some of those cookies and a picture with the placard that noted her effort. What could be better?

Evelyn’s birthday was early in October, and she received a flood of good wishes—many of them on Facebook, but more than usual via the mail, too. I took a picture of cards displayed in our kitchen. We still have a couple of dollars left on one of the several gift cards enclosed in those envelopes. A birthday to remember!

Skip to November and one week with three different sets of out-of-town guests who shared a meal and lots of nurture. Nancy Karpenske, a college classmate who also roomed with Evelyn, came with her husband, Mark, for lunch between visits to family in the area. When I saw they had arrived, I told Evelyn, and she went out to the front walk to greet Nancy. (I learned later that Nancy, who lives in Colorado and hasn’t seen us for years, had been afraid Evelyn wouldn’t recognize her.) I wish I had a picture of that warm hug.

One of my best friends, an advisor and sounding board, is Roy Lawson. Long ago retired from megachurch ministry and Christian college presidency, he is still in demand as a ministry board member and guest speaker. He lives in Missouri, but he came to stay with us a couple of nights between engagements in this area. How I’m blessed by the chance for long talks with him.

The picture shows an outing to one of his—and Evelyn’s—favorite Cincinnati haunts, Graeter’s ice cream. Physical sweetness to supplement the sustenance of his visit.

Friday night that week our grandson, Miles Johnson, came for dinner before meeting up with college friends for a weekend get-together. We were so pleased he made time to see us first!

And then last weekend my daughter and her husband, Jennifer and Matt Johnson, came to help assemble two massive bookshelves and a futon to replace furniture damaged by water in the basement several weeks ago. (They are much better looking than the bookshelves, but once again, I failed to get a picture.)

The truth is, they didn’t help me. I helped Matt, some at least, and three big pieces of furniture were together after lunch and before supper. What a blessing!

Here’s what I’m thinking

A couple of conclusions as I reflect on all of this.

First: Notice all the smiles. There’s nothing more to be grateful for than the people in our lives.

Second: Consider all the creative ways to help. Nothing’s better than face-to-face visits, each of these accompanied in one way or another by pitching in to do physical work.

Third: These are only a few of our reasons to be grateful this autumn. There’s not room to recount all the encouragement we receive from so many in our lives. (I did give a post several weeks ago to three of these, my New York son and family, I was able to visit in October.)

Fourth: The reality of these past months also contains disappointments, frustrations, physical problems beyond Evelyn’s two major diagnoses, and ongoing evidence of an inexorable decline. One need not deny the bad to be grateful for the good.

Fifth: Blessings received often come with hard work. Planning, meal prep, cleaning, dishwashing, laundry. It’s extra work to have guests. But the payoff far outweighs the effort.

Sixth: I’m struck by a thought from an online devotion that came to my inbox just this week: Writing from Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois, Jon Jones quoted Psalm 34:1-3, including this phrase from verse 3, “Magnify the Lord with me.” Focusing on “how great God is and all that he’s done for us” is not “just positive thinking,” he wrote, “but real gratitude and thankfulness.” Magnifying (focusing on) our problems, he added, “can lead to stress, health issues, and more.” Focusing on the Lord allows us to “see him for who he is . . . peace, joy, and so much more!”

This Thanksgiving I intend to work at focusing on the many ways God is helping me. Like getting ready for guests, this is a discipline that requires work. But this work has a payoff like no other.