What a strange word? Grateful? full of grate?
I’m reminded of an early American scene when I think of this word – something straight out of a Little House on the Prairie scene… The poor jobless farm hand stands in the yard talking to the owner saying “I’d be mighty grateful to do a little work for some food and a place to sleep”
OK – so what does ‘grateful’ mean to me? It’s being thankful – understanding that you are blessed beyond what you deserve or can do for yourself.
Ultimately, we must be grateful to God for our salvation, for our very lives. But we can also be grateful for small things – like the gentle rain falling outside my window, for ways to communicate easily with friends in faraway places, for those who will listen and encourage and laugh with you, for safety and health, for family, for ‘enough’ – maybe not all we want, but all we need…
Be grateful!
For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.