“Thank You” They’re more than just words.
Are you thankful? Right now, before you read anymore of this article, I want you to make a list of five things or people for which you are thankful. Did you list your church, your parents, your friends? In our culture we have gotten away from what was at one time, a necessary duty. After your last birthday party, did you personally thank each person that attended and gave you a gift? I’m not talking about yelling as they got inside the minivan, “Thanks for coming!” I mean, did you sit down with a note card and write, “Dear Hayden, Thanks a lot for coming to my birthday party…” Why not? Perhaps you didn’t think about it. Today I want to talk to you about being thankful. It’s very important.
Why be thankful?
When someone does something nice for you, they have used time, sometimes money, and some effort to do something or get something for you. Let’s take Hayden again for our example. He came to your birthday party and he brought you the new Spore TM game as a gift. Hayden and his parents had to take time out of their day, money to buy the game, and effort to wrap the gift and write a happy birthday wish on a card. All of this was an investment of perhaps 2 to 3 hours and about $60 if you include the gas they used to go to the store and back. When you send a note to Hayden and his family to thank them, you tell them that you understand the effort that was made on your behalf and you appreciate it. It is a sign that you are growing up when you can recognize another persons’ sacrifice. When you see that others have given of their time and resources to do something nice for you, and you understand that effort, it means you are growing up.
Who to thank?
Be thankful in all situations. When someone holds a door open for you, say thank you. When someone lends you a pencil because your lead broke, say thank you. Thank your teachers at school. Thank your parents when they do something nice for you. If you really want to shock her, thank your mom for cooking dinner tonight. At the end of the game, thank your soccer coach and shake his hand. After all, he gave up his time with his family for several hours each week to teach you how to drive to the goal, that’s worthy of a thanks and a handshake. What about people at church? Do you thank your Bible class teacher? What about the Youth Director? Have you thanked the preacher lately?
How to say thank you?
Most of the time, just saying thank you is good. But sometimes you really need to send a personal thank you note to someone that has been particularly kind to you. When someone gives you something, takes you somewhere special, or performs a service beyond normal everyday events, it is necessary and appropriate to send that person a thank you note. Did you know that you don’t even have to buy a special card in order to make a thank you note? You can use any paper, construction paper, even just plain notebook paper. One of my favorite things to do is to get pretty paper from the hobby store scrapbook section and make my own cards. Sometimes people don’t send a thank you note because they don’t know what to say. I’m going to give you some examples of what to write, but remember, it’s more impo
rtant to just say thank you than it is to have beautiful, flourishing words. It’s not about poetry; it’s about being thankful in your heart. Now I will give you some examples of thank you notes. You can copy the exact words I put, or you can think of some of your own. Again, it’s just important to say thank you-however you want to say it. Saying thank you is more than just saying the words, it’s letting the person know that you have thought about their generosity and understand their sacrifice.
Did you know that when the apostles would write a letter to a church or a person they would always thank the people for something that church did or gave? More important than all of the things I have mentioned up until now, we need to always be thankful to Our Heavenly Father for everything we have, everything we do, and for making us who we are. As I close, I want to thank you. Yes! You! For coming to churchfun.com and wanting to learn more about the Bible and the beautiful world that God has given us. Thank you.
Love,
KeriAnne
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)