I am thankful for a great many things. But what does that actually mean?
The definition of thankful is: pleased and relieved; to express gratitude and relief.
It’s interesting to me that relief is included there. It makes sense when you think about it. Thankfulness is an appreciation for what you have, what you’ve been given, or what has happened. We are thankful for good health, for provision, for friends and family, the list goes on and on.
But there is an implied relief that those things or those people are there and haven’t been taken away or failed to appear. That the flip side didn’t occur. i.e. poor health, lacking in basic necessities, no friends or family, etc.
I’ve never said I’m thankful for somewhere to live and then consciously thought about the alternative and how relieved I was. Or told my family that I’m thankful for them and then thought to myself how fortunate it is that everyone is okay.
There have been seasons when my brothers were and are in the military and I feared for their safety. When the people I love have been in dangerous places and in a heightened position of vulnerability, the worry and anxiety that comes with that has been palpable.
But that framework of thought isn’t something that I typically operate in.
What if it was though?
What if you fought that horrible pressure building up in your chest all the time? What if you were desperate for somewhere to stay, to sleep, to keep your family safe? What if you had everything taken from you?
Your home. Your livelihood. Your possessions. Your country. Your culture.
Your very sense of self had been replaced by that monster called fear. Fear for yourself. Fear that your family and loved ones would be taken or killed. Fear that tragedy would strike at any time.
So you leave behind all that you know and all that you love to search out safety and security elsewhere. The decision to leave may be forced or coerced and is never easy. The journey itself has a whole new set of dangers. Risk layered upon risk.
“You know, those of us who leave our homes in the morning and expect to find them there when we go back – it’s hard for us to understand what the experience of a refugee might be like.” –Naomi Shihab Nye
This is what millions of people all over the world experience on a daily basis.
I imagine it would be difficult to find things to be thankful for in this scenario. Or, maybe it would become easier in some ways. Especially when thought of as relief. A blanket, a bottle of water, a piece of fruit, a smile and a handshake from a stranger, dry clothes. These are the things you become thankful for. A little thing that means someone won’t be cold, won’t be thirsty, won’t be hungry, will be warm and will be encouraged. Things that we all take for granted every day.
Every day.
So my challenge to you this week is to take that into consideration. Really think and pray about what it means for us to live in so much abundance when others are struggling so much. Are there ways in which you can reach out to help? We have a lot to be thankful for here. Lets do something with it.
In January I will be heading to Guatemala to work with the Center for Global Action located there for about four months. I am very excited about this and can’t wait to learn more about orphan care and what’s involved to do it well in another country. I am also currently praying about what to do after that, and right now God has placed a heavy burden on me concerning the current refugee crisis around the world. I would love it if you could also be praying for me in this and exactly what that might look like. Thank you. I am so thankful for you!
