One Easy Way to Regain Peace and Happiness
The other day I found myself standing in our kitchen getting frustrated. It wasn't anyone or anything...just my circumstances. I have been dealing with some heavy issues lately, and I was frustrated. Mad, actually. I didn’t have time for this. I had things to do.
As I was walking out my garage door, something caught my eye. I’m not sure why it caught my eye because I think I have seen it a hundred times. But today, I stopped and observed it again.
It was a thank-you note.
A thank-you note written to us by our neighbor for something we had done for them a while back. It was really a small thing we did, but what they returned in written form to us was much larger. In fact, it wrecked me.
I had been taking for granted all the wonderful things the Lord had done for me and hyper-focused on the few circumstances I didn’t like. And re-reading that note just caused me to pause and completely change my attitude and my perspective.
Thank-you notes can do that.
This last Sunday, DeAngelo Burse shared with us the power of living in an attitude of gratitude. As he was speaking, God kept taking me back to all the ways he has renewed my life and mind through the simple act of gratitude.
It truly is one of the most transformative virtues in my life. Learning to be grateful for all things big and small can have a profound effect on you. But even more profound is the effect it has on other people when we express our gratitude for them.
Back to thank-you notes.
Writing thank-you notes has never been my strong suit. However, lately, I’ve been writing more of them. I write them because of the effect other people’s thank-you notes have had on me. And also because (thank you, Jesus!) I am growing in gratitude.
People that are filled with gratitude inspire me. People like Bob Goff and Ann Voskamp make me want to spend more of my days giving myself away to others. If you want to be inspired too, just read Bob Goff’s book Love Does or Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts. Both of these have really struck a chord with many people.
The posture of being thankful is a soul-opening one. To see your life with a grateful heart opens up the possibility of a deeper connection with our good God and dare I say it, the possibility to receive even more goodness from His generous hand!
Being thankful takes our gaze off of what is wrong with us, our circumstances, and our world and places it on what is right. Ultimately, it turns our gaze to the Giver of all good gifts, who tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to give thanks in all things!
So what’s the deal with thank-you notes?
They seem to have gone the way of rotary phones. And I’ve got to tell you; it’s not progress. It’s a regression that we really need to stop.
There is something beautiful about receiving a hand-written note in the mail with a real life stamp on it, isn’t there?
It tells someone — You were thought of. You are important to me. Your heart matters to me. In fact, I thank God for you.
So, let me call you to action.
Get out your pens.
Get out your note cards or pick some up at the grocery store.
Take the time.
Express your gratitude.
You’ll be glad you did, and the person on the other side will be truly blessed.
Who knows, maybe they will pin your note on the door to their garage like we did!
So, who are you going to write to and why? I would love to know. Just drop it down in the comments so I can rejoice with you.
RESOURCES:
Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts