The Power of Gratitude

The power of gratitude wowed me when I first met our new neighbor, Della. She was in her 80s when we moved in next door, and she greeted us with a beaming smile and a litany of how happy she was to meet us. In subsequent encounters, which were frequent, she never failed to talk about how grateful she was for her life and how much God had blessed her.

Della radiated joy. And I thought, “That’s the way to live!” Even as dementia took her memory, she continued to do a little dance and recite her gratitude on a daily basis.

Della embodied one of my favorite quotes by 19th Century theologian, Alexander Maclaren.

“Seek to cultivate a buoyant joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life.”

I love the words Maclaren uses—buoyant, joyous, crowded kindnesses. I can’t help but smile thinking about the picture he paints.

So many kindnesses. So much love. A God who crowds us with His kindnesses. A God who tells us to be grateful because He knows it will make us joyful. We can be buoyant—able to stay afloat no matter what—when we are grateful. This is the abundance of life God wants for us!

The Link Between The Power of Gratitude and Joy

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (another 19th Century theologian) said “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.”

Joy is not something we produce. It’s something we find in the presence of God.

How do we get into God’s presence? We worship Him. We thank Him. (Psalm 100:4)

Being thankful is our way of saying, “You are good, Lord. And what You do is good. What You choose for my life is good. I trust You.”

Expressing gratitude is like planting a seed, and joy is the fruit that grows from it. We plant a seed without seeing its fruit. We just trust that something good will grow from it. It’s an act of faith. And the harvest we reap is joy.

A life filled with thanksgiving is a life that gets better and better. And I’m not talking about faking it, speaking in Christianese, or posing. I’m not saying we should ignore the trials we’re in.

I’m talking about thanking God (along with being honest about how hard it is) in the middle of those trials—if only for the fact that He promises He is with us during them. I’m talking about being on the lookout for things to be grateful for—regardless of what’s not going well on any particular day.

Not Just an Ancient Teaching

Aside from the fact that we are commanded to be grateful in the Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:18), gratitude is just a healthy practice for life. Even modern-day psychologists report this. In 2007, Robert Emmons began researching gratitude through a psychological lens. He found that expressing gratitude improves mental, physical and relational well-being. Being grateful impacts the overall experience of happiness, and these effects tend to be long-lasting.

Author Ann Voskamp said, “Being joyful isn’t what makes you grateful. Being grateful is what makes you joyful.”

If we want good mental health and a good life, gratitude needs to become a habit.

Lessons in the Power of Gratitude

Westerners who go on short-term mission trips often comment on the joy they see in people they work with. We are astounded that someone who lives in poverty can be joyful. But the same lessons of gratitude that apply to us apply to everyone. A lifestyle of gratitude doesn’t take away problems, it just makes them easier to bear.

A man who knows the power of gratitude.
William is grateful for training to become a fisherman.

William in South Sudan is an example of a grateful person. He was unable to provide enough for his family until he learned to fish. Now he has food for them, and an income.

William said, “I’m really thankful to God because I tried different things until I found this really was the main source of my livelihood. I previously didn’t know how to fish, so I asked people to show me and also learned by observing. Fishing is very beneficial to my family.”

Hla (name changed for protection) is another example of the power of gratitude. She lost everything when her home was burned to the ground and she escaped Myanmar with her family. After walking for nine days to reach Bangladesh they entered a refugee camp. The work she had in Myanmar was not available in the camp, but she was given an opportunity to learn how to sew and she took it.

A woman who knows the power of gratitude.
Hla has overcome many hardships, and she is grateful.

Hla said, “If I learn this work, I can keep my children safe. I can provide them an education. No one can steal or buy my skills.”

Instead of complaining over her circumstances, Hla expresses gratitude for aid workers. She said, “Without God, how can we live? God has created us and sent us into this world. He is giving us everything and feeding us. He is doing this through His agents.”

An Evergreen Virtue

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to be reminded of the power of gratitude. We generally make our “I’m grateful for” list sometime around this holiday. And at our house we go around the dinner table and say what we’re thankful for while feasting on turkey and favorite side dishes.

But gratitude isn’t something we take out of the closet for a certain holiday every year. It’s something that should be at our table, and on our lips, all year long. It’s evergreen.

Our neighbor Della lived to be 97, and I never tired of her grateful litany. In fact, I sought it out. Her joy lit up our lives, every single day.

Let us know what you’re grateful for in the comment section below. Share what you do to maintain a grateful heart. We’d like to hear from you and share your thoughts with others.

 

 

Emergency Nutrition for only $11?

We’re in the middle of a campaign to provide emergency nutrition right now. $11 buys one month’s worth of Nutripackets for children who are starving to death in parts of Northern Kenya and Somalia.

There isn’t enough food where they live.

I have to pause and remember to breathe when I hear that. Continue reading Emergency Nutrition for only $11?

Nobody Thought He Could Learn, But Look At Him Now!

Shiphon with his mother who dreamed he could have an education in Bangladesh.
Shiphon (right) lives with his parents in Hindu Para Village.

Seven-year-old Shiphon is growing up in Hindu Para, Bangladesh. He lives with his parents and sister. His father is a rickshaw driver, and there is no extra money to pay for Shiphon to have an education in Bangladesh where admission to school is often two months wages.

But, in reality, Shiphon’s family never planned for him to go to school anyway. You see, Shiphon is mute. He’s never talked, and no one is sure if he ever will. And special education in Bangladesh is far away from his community.

When Hindu Para Village began to collaborate with World Concern in our One Village Transformed program, we helped them open a preschool in the village. Soon Shiphon’s sister began to attend.

Shiphon saw his sister learning and making friends, and soon he started following her to school. He sat amongst the students and listened eagerly to the teacher. Soon enough, Shiphon was there every day, ready to work.

Shiphon and his teacher who is dedicated to giving children an education in Bangladesh.
Shiphon and his teacher.

“At the beginning, he struggled,” explained Shipon’s teacher. “But now, he has opened up and in some cases is even doing better than the other students.”

Though Shiphon is mute, he manages to write everything down to communicate. He doesn’t speak, but he never fails to express himself.

“Shiphon is the first one to arrive to school,” Shiphon’s teacher shared about him. “I love and admire him because of his dedication to his studies. This determination is his strength, and it overcomes his weakness.”

His determination is also making an impact at home. Shiphon’s mother, Runa, has always dreamed of educating her son, and now it is a reality.

“I would try heart and soul to prepare Shiphon to further his education,” Yeasmin said. “This preschool stands out from other preschools and always supports him.”

For the first time in years, Runa sees a new future for her son.

“I am very grateful to you,” Runa said to World Concern OVT donors. “You value education, and I thank you for supporting Shiphon in his schooling.”

And there’s more good news

Runa also joined one of the savings groups OVT brought to Hindu Para. She started saving money, and her goal is to send Shiphon and his sister to school as they get older. In short, she’s working toward transforming their futures for good!

Shiphon and his sister are just two of over 200 students enrolled in the OVT preschools in this area of Bangladesh.

And the savings group his mother joined? There are 20 others just like it, with members who are learning, growing, and saving to create new opportunities for themselves and their families.

Written by Heather Nelson.

Walking with Lolmodooni

Heather Nelson is World Concern’s One Village Transformed Communications Coordinator. She visited the Samburu region of Kenya in April, and shares her journey to collect water with a Samburu woman named Lolmodooni. 

I walk to get water every day. From the living room to the kitchen. From the bedroom to the refrigerator. From the backyard to the little nook in my garage where I keep a case of water bottles. We all walk to get water.

But we don’t all walk like this.

People in countries where there is drought spend hours walking for a drink of water. Lolmodooni is one of these people.

One morning, she let me come along.

Continue reading Walking with Lolmodooni

How Clean Water Lifted Kampus and His Family Out of Extreme Poverty

Life was a struggle in Enchoro, the Maasai village where Kampus and his large family live in rural Kenya. Recurring drought made it impossible to earn a living. Livestock died. Crops failed. Kampus’s wife walked long distances in punishing heat to collect water. And his children were chronically sick with water-borne diseases. Continue reading How Clean Water Lifted Kampus and His Family Out of Extreme Poverty

Can I Ever Go Home? A True Story of Child Trafficking

Cho’s family was desperately poor and in debt. All of the families in his village in Myanmar struggled to have enough food to eat. So Cho (whose name has been changed) and his friends made a plan. They heard stories about jobs that were easy and paid a lot of money in China. As young teenagers it was illegal for them to work in China, but they knew a man who said he could find work for them.

Continue reading Can I Ever Go Home? A True Story of Child Trafficking

If Not Us, Then Who? Why We Serve at the End of the Road

There are places in the world where the road ends and help stops.

These places are desolate, isolated, and dangerous. The problems there—both natural and man-made—have gone on for too long to make the headlines. They are places where humanitarian aid has fallen short.

Continue reading If Not Us, Then Who? Why We Serve at the End of the Road

The Largest Eyes I’ve Ever Seen

The suffering in our world overwhelms me. That’s why I work for World Concern. It helps to be part of a team that is doing something to make things better—one person, one family, one village at a time. Still, there are times while researching and writing that all I can do is pray over and over again, “Lord Jesus, have mercy.”

Continue reading The Largest Eyes I’ve Ever Seen