GIVING THANKS BEFORE WE EAT is a long tradition in my family, as it is in many. We have asked our children to “say grace” at the dinner table from the time they were able to mutter a few words, but it hasn’t always come easily for them.
When they peer down into that plate containing food unfamiliar and unlikable, giving thanks is the farthest thing from their heart and lips. More often the response is, “What is it?”, if not just some blank stare of disbelief that we would ever consider feeding the children that we love such fare. But pray they must. And pray they did, even if it was through gritted teeth.
The thing that they never have really sunk their teeth into is the fact that we would, as loving parents, never give them something to eat that would hurt them. Our desire is always for their well-being. We want them well-nourished so that they will grow to be strong and healthy. If they would take a moment to think about this fact every time they sat down to eat they would always have something of which to be thankful. They might not like what we set before them, but at least they would know it wouldn’t kill them.
Lest I make my children out to be ungrateful little street urchins, I must honestly say they do practice gratefulness on a regular basis, and oft when it is unexpected. And that, which all parents know, is the best kind of thankfulness.
As I type out these words I am given cause to wonder how often I have given thanks to God with gritted teeth? How often have I stared down at which the loving heavenly Father has laid before me and said, “What is that!?” Oh, how that must break His heart, for He, even more than I, always gives just what is right to His children. And for this I must be grateful.
And I am.