I forget.  I say thank you and then I forget.  Life gets busy.  Until He stops me; He did that tonight.  As I tucked Eben in and lay beside him for a moment, as he already was falling asleep, I went back there three years and eleven months ago to his birth.  I knew something would go wrong.  My whole pregnancy, I knew something would forever change us.  In my thoughts, I prayed both of us would survive.  He was born and quickly started turning blue.  I held him for a moment and then they rushed him away.  He was given oxygen, then put into intensive care and then moved into intensive -intensive care.  He lay beside a baby that was about one pound.  My seven pound little boy could not breath on his own.  He had tubes down his throat; he was monitored by a nurse sitting beside him 24/7.  I went home after a day or two and he stayed there- we waited for him to breathe on his own.  Each day, Dan and I went to visit him throughout the day praying, speaking softly to him...  My brothers went to see him and stood beside me as I cried, they read Psalms. My sister and parents helped keep life normal for our other two children.  I remember the nurses told me that “lots of babies have ‘wimpy white boy syndrome’ he will recover soon.”  But the specialist told us day six that Eben was not responding to the two treatments of surfactant and he was not sure what else he could do.  He did not offer us much hope.  I felt helpless…

      We experienced a miracle as our little baby surprised the doctor.  We watched God heal a tear in his little lung, we watched his body do what the doctors did not expect, he breathed on his own, and day twelve we took him home.  He was perfectly healthy.  Those twelve days I lived in constant prayer and conversation with God.  Our life stopped and we asked God to give us a miracle and He did. 

      Three years, or even almost four years is not that long ago.  Now I am blessed daily by a little boy that laughs constantly, tells us jokes, makes up funny nicknames for everyone he meets, greets me each morning with a hug and a smile; how could I forget?   How could I forget to whisper,”thank you, Jesus” each morning when I see his little face, thumb in his mouth, blanket in hand?   God even gave me a little reminder so I would not forget to live in an attitude of thankfulness.  His eyelashes remind me, for when Eben was born he had no eyelashes, but now he has the longest fullest eyelashes I have ever seen.  They are flags of God’s faithfulness to me and still I forget.  I forget to say, “Thank you!”

      Do you forget to say thank you every day?  Do you forget the prayer that God answered that changed your life?  Do you focus on life’s problems and forget to focus on God’s power?  We forget don’t we?  He gave us the very breath we breathe and we forget where that breath came from. 

      Saying thank you acknowledges that someone did something and we appreciate that act or gift.  “Thank you” is so simple and yet thank you takes the focus off the act or gift given and transfers it to the gift Giver.  “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…” (James 1:17) We teach our children to say thank you when they are given something simple or something grand.  I hope and pray my children do not become ungrateful adults.  I ask myself, “How do I teach them to always be thankful?”  If I go from day to day thinking about what I want or do not have, what am I modeling for my children?  As Christians, people watch what we do much more than what we say.  Do my actions show thankfulness?  I hope so, and yet I am not sure that they always do. 

      The Choice of thankfulness is just that; it is a- choice.  One can be thankful for the gift or wish it looked and felt different.  I have never heard of someone regretting being thankful.  Have you ever heard anyone complain of someone being too thankful?  Thankfulness is the right choice and prevents negative, miserable living.  Will you choose to be thankful today?  The other day I saw a little girl with one arm, limbs but not whole legs, scared face and body... She was burned badly in a house fire.  I was amazed at her enthusiasm as she crawled to her car as if life was perfect and she felt normal.  I was humbled by the little things I find to worry or complain about.  I realized she was thankful for today, even though her quality of life may not be near as good as most little girls and boys her age.  She lives thankful. 

      Will you choose to be thankful today for all of the blessings in your life?  Will you choose to thank God for His goodness, even when life does not feel good?  Will you choose to show thankfulness to those around you in need of that word of encouragement?  “Thank you” such a simple word and yet so powerful!

      Answer

      Do you forget to say thank you every day?
      Do you forget the prayer that God answered that changed your life?
      Do you focus on life’s problems and forget to focus on God’s power?

      Prayer

      Jesus,
     Thank you for dying for me!  Thank You for the gift of your presence through this life, thank you that I don’t have to be alone, for You are always with me.  Thank you for providing a way for me to live forever with you in Heaven.  Thank you for the gift of this life.  Thank you for my health, my family, my friends, my job, my material possessions… Thank you most of all that You love me with a love that never fails.  I praise You for You are the great gift Giver. In Jesus name