A fellow teacher at the high school where I work gave a reflection on a retreat last year that transformed my view of “giving thanks.” The teacher explained gratitude from the perspective of what we can give to God. He said that since God has created everything, everything belongs to him. We can sacrifice time for God and spend more minutes in prayer — but he is the source of time itself. We can make small sacrifices of what we eat by fasting or giving up dessert — but he created all of those things that we would give up.
This teacher claimed that giving thanks to God is the only thing we can give to him that God can’t give himself, because gratitude is the result of a free choice to show respect and honor to someone who has been good or done good for us.
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If I am completely honest, up until that point I think that my idea of gratitude was an empty one. I thought that this was something that we had to do because it was just the right thing to do. It was more about the action of saying “thank you” than the meaning behind it. I knew that I should show gratitude, but I didn’t really understand how it impacted my life or my relationship with God.
Leaving that retreat, I began to think about how I could implement daily practices of gratitude and be more deliberate and consistent in giving thanks to God, because gratitude is a gift back to God for his gifts to me.
First, I added a small element to my morning wake-up routine. Each day, when I get out of bed (and I am not a morning person), I make the sign of the cross as a way to dedicate my day to Christ and quietly say the prayer, “God, thank you for the gift of this day.”
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This simple movement to appreciate that I was given another day on this earth, slowly began to change me. I saw that even the very act of waking up and beginning a new day (even if that day was going to have challenges) was ultimately a gift from God. In showing him gratitude for it, I saw that my love for prayer and respect for the little things in life began to grow more as well. I saw each portion of prayer time as a gift from God – that he was enabling me to rise early and praise him. I also became more appreciative for the small moments of joy with my children or a relaxing evening with my wife.
Second, when I arrived back home after work I began to quietly say to God, “thank you for the gift of Joanna, Benedict, Gabriel and Abigail” (the names of my wife and three children) before getting out of my car. This was especially helpful because arriving home to a house full of children and chores that need to be done after work can sometimes be difficult. All I want to do is play with the kids and talk to my wife, but I know the dishwasher needs to be unloaded, the toys need to be cleaned up and the laundry needs to get done.
Reciting this brief prayer gave me a more healthy and grateful perspective for the time I was about to spend with my wife and kids. It made me more patient during the chaotic times and more appreciative of the beautifully simple moments of parenting.
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Finally, before going to bed at night, I spend more time than normal being reflective on the parts of the day that brought me great joy or were especially meaningful to me. These could include something funny that my 3-year-old did, a powerful conversation with a coworker, or simply the time to have a nice meal with the family.
This final act before bed was a stamp on my day. I noticed that actions of gratitude began to make me a happier person and a better disciple, husband, father and teacher. It made me less distracted by worries and more centered on the countless gifts that God pours out on us each day and each moment. My thankfulness was a gift to God, but the act of practicing that gratitude drew me closer to him. In that way, my coworker’s words on that retreat were validated — and for that, and so much more, I am truly grateful. Performing these routines in an intentional way has truly changed my mindset about all that God does for me and has made me even more thankful in the process.
