Teaching Thankfulness

I have a lot to be thankful for. I had a mom and dad that loved me. They loved life and they loved God. This picture shows that at an early age they were teaching their baby girl to pray and be thankful for what God had provided. As you see on the table it was a humble meal. Peas from the garden, and it looks like mackeral cakes and biscuits. I remember having those later in life. They were so good. Mama could make anything taste good. It didn't matter what we had, her love went into it. She was thankful for what she could put on that table. Daddy was also a thankful man. He knew what He had was from God and hard work. When we sat at the table our heads were bowed as we thanked God for His provisions.

It's so easy today to get caught up in the frenzy of life. Running here and there, grabbing snacks or fast food on the run. Do we really take the time to be thankful? Even if we utter our "thank-you Lord for this food" are we really thankful in the same sort of way as back then? I know I'm not. It's a shame that we take so much for granted. As I lugg the groceries from the car to my house I am reminded that I didn't have to pick the beans, shuck the corn, milk the cow, and most of all I did not have to kill the chicken that I was feeding my family that night! I could not do that! I don't know how those women did it? That right there is something to be thankful for.

I bring in my fully cooked rotisserie chicken, put my spring mix salad in a bowl and zap a veggie in the microwave and serve my rice from the rice cooker and WA LA, I'm done. Okay so we have it easier now days. I know we do and we have challenges they didn't have. So what can we do? Embrace the moment we live in, look around at all we have to be thankful for. The grocery stores, the schools, the gas stations, the jobs we have, our faith in God. This is what our existence is about.

I guess what I'm getting at is appreciation for what we have, the time we live, and what the God of creation does for us everyday. I hope to convey this thankfulness on to my children and grandchildren. I want to be like my mama and daddy, thankful for the "peas, the canned mackeral and biscuits", and enjoy showing my children how to pray, and truely love life.

Thanks mama and daddy. You taught us well.

Mamacooker