Gratitude, Crumbs & Crayons
These days my best thinking happens when I am tucked away in the mud room folding laundry. With the door open I can still hear the hustle and bustle of my four kids just enough to allow my thoughts to be the loudest voice in the house – until a quarrel or request for a snack demands my attention.
It was in this “thinking place” that I recently found myself looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. In that moment I found my mind coming to a place of worship and thanksgiving of my own. Despite the crumbs and crayons on the kitchen floor a few feet next to me, I saw how clear the path before me looks. Proverbs 3: 5-6 immediately came to mind:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Prov 3:5-6 ESV)
As we consider our gratitude to the Lord, verse 6 stands out with intensity: “In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.” Acknowledging God is an act of humility and thanksgiving, turning us to praise and worship. By recognizing his sovereign authority over creation and in the way He lovingly disciplines and guides His people allows us to posture our hearts through the hills and the valleys; in the extraordinary and the mundane; in the chaos and the calm. What a blessing that the Lord leads us on paths of righteousness (Prov 12:28) and that we can delight in His commandments (Psalm 119:35).
Our gratitude for His direction on the path before us takes root in our gratitude for the Good Shepherd leading our way. Psalm 119: 105 states, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Jesus is the Word (John 1:1) and the Light (John 8:12). His redemptive work in our lives, and the calling and commission he claims for us as his disciples, is a pivot point for daily praise, thanksgiving, and worship. Our daily journey of sanctification in Christ – through the crayons and crumbs on the floor or the darkest night of the soul – rests in this deep adoration for what Christ did for us, and what he is doing daily as we abide in him.
My hope and prayer for all of us as we enter the cultural season of Thanksgiving is that we can offer thanks and praise to the Lord this season and each day of the year. May we acknowledge Him in all of our ways. May our paths be directed by our love for the Lord, allowing His word and the Word be the Light that lights our path forward – even through crumbs and crayons.
KB