A Year of Gratitude

I stood at the foot of my bed feeling breathless. The room began to spin. Sobbing, I collapsed on my bed feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. I was only on my feet for five minutes! I lacked even an ounce of energy, and I couldn’t fathom what was going on in my body. My emotions were all over the map too. One day I felt terribly depressed; another day I was so angry I feared what I would do if I had the strength. Most days, I didn’t have the vigor to even get out of bed. I received much prayer and believed God would heal me. I also visited doctor after doctor to no avail. Almost two years later, I still felt awful. Finally,  my husband insisted I needed a diagnosis or hospitalization. One last test was ordered, but my doctor warned me that the odds of me receiving a diagnosis were slimmer than slim.

The next day my doctor called. “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” he asked. What a question! The bad news was that I was diagnosed with a rare disease that would require medication for the rest of my life. The good news was that once I received medication, I would see drastic change. In fact, I would be able to walk around the block within the next 24 hours! This good news seemed miraculous and drowned out the bad news right away! How do I describe that moment? For me, it was a second chance to live life! I was beyond grateful!

Imagine the joy found in having a second chance to live life healthy. Or take a minute to put yourself in the shoes of someone who suffered their whole life with illness, only to be transformed to perfect health in a moment! In Luke’s Gospel there’s a story about ten men suffering with leprosy. Leprosy was considered a terrible disease. It was determined to be incurable and those diagnosed with this disease were deemed unclean and banned from society. If you touched a leper, you were considered unclean too. Imagine the shame and social isolation those with leprosy experienced!  In those days, only a priest could declare a leper healed or clean again. But when the ten men suffering with leprosy saw Jesus, they cried out for mercy. Jesus responded by telling them to go show themselves to the priests, and on the way the ten lepers were healed! 

But the next words in Luke’s gospel are hard to believe. “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him…”(Luke 17:15-16) One of them? Only one? Jesus, asked the healed leper where the other nine lepers were; He wondered because He knew all ten were cleansed, but ONLY ONE returned to give thanks.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine being healed of leprosy and NOT returning to give God thanks! But maybe it’s because I’ve tricked myself into believing the lie that I’m “better than that.” After all, my life abounds with blessings. Yet, I often murmur and complain. Some days I scroll through images of social media and fill myself with negative reports, criticism, and doom and gloom about life here on earth. Afterwards, the leprosy of negativity clings to my soul and I find myself angry, depressed, and blinded to the abundant blessings I experience every day. My salvation, my health, my family, my friends, His creation, are just a few!

With so many blessings, I am praying for my heart to do a u-turn. In fact, I declared 2021 my year of gratitude! Did you know the word gratitude and grace come from the same Latin word, gratia? That’s why when we give thanks at dinner, we call it grace! Well, I think we all need a year filled with grace! I’ve decided to use a beautiful vase as my gratitude jar this year, and I’m determined to write down my weekly blessings and give God praise and thanks! Even in the midst of pain, loss, and struggle we can find hope in God and His great love for us. I invite you to join me in gratitude and thanksgiving to God for who He is, what He’s done, what He’s given us, and what He’s going to do! Will you return and give Him thanks?