What does it mean to be thankful?
How is gratitude best and most often expressed?
For helping in a desperate flat tire situation, a small financial appreciation might be offered.
In response to friend who just paid for lunch . . . a “thank you and I will get the next one” might be an acceptable response.
These are easy situations to deal with for most people. But what is the appropriate response when a life is saved?
Or, on a lesser level, when the basics of food and clothing are lacking and then suddenly provided in abundance how should gratitude to be expressed?
When I think of all these situations, as unconnected as they may seem, Gord comes to mind.
Gord didn’t have a flat tire, but he sure did seem to be out of air and deflated. He finally gained some composure and, although he wanted to speak to someone with a name he could not quite remember, he agreed to speak to me.
Gord was out of everything and desperate for groceries and clothes . . . lots of both. He began to open up and told me of his desperate situation of being hit by one vehicle and then dragged by another. He was considerably under weight and showed me an abundance of scars. One of which he was quite proud because it was in the shape of a cross.
OIM Door Outreach, that day, was able to provide Gord with an abundance of groceries and clothing.
Two scriptures came to mind: Psalm. 115:1 “Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness” and Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”
And as for Gord, as he left that day, all the way down the street expressing his gratitude to God who, provided for him that day and had left a lasting imprint of the Cross on his body, for the One who saved his life. (Psalm 107:8 “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men,”)
~Lloyd, Volunteer
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