A Reason to be Thankful

The fictional story is told that during the time the church was being persecuted in Rome, a Christian was thrown to the lions.  As he waited to be eaten, he knelt down and prayed.  Looking up he was surprised to see the lion also kneeling in prayer.  Seeing the look of bewilderment on the Christian’s face, the lion said to him, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m giving thanks.” I guess you could say that being thankful is often a matter of perspective. That’s certainly true for me. On some occasions I feel it more than others.  This past week was one of those times when I felt more thankful than usual.  First, while washing dishes I dropped my cell phone in the water. That was a dumb mistake on my part, but I was thankful it was insured.  Just a quick call and an overnight shipment put me right back in business. Then I was at the Lexus dealership getting some service done when another dumb thing occurred.  Upon being notified that the work was completed I headed to get in my car. Right at the time I started to open the door my phone rang. Since my hands were full I laid my newly purchased iPad on top of the car with the thought “I do not want to forget that.” Becoming engrossed in the conversation I jumped in started the engine and headed up the highway.  After travelling only a short distance I was startled with the sounds of a thud.  I thought “what was that?” Then I looked over to the passenger’s seat and realized “IT” was missing. Stopping the car immediately I looked down the highway expecting to find a pile technological mess. There was nothing in the road so my attention was drawn to the top of the car and there the iPad was safe and sound.  The wind had blown the magnetic flap open that covers the screen allowing it to make the loud noise. Needless to say I was overwhelmed with thanks. However, blessings like these are minimal in comparison to those we should really be thankful for.  Gadgets can be replaced, but things like our families, our health, our salvation, cannot.  During this season let us remember to “bless the Lord and forget not all His benefits” for we have so many reasons to be thankful.