I was at a cafe with a new friend a couple of months after my arrival to Georgia in the spring of 2008. There we sat enjoying a cup of hot coffee, and even as I drank it I knew that soon I would want iced coffee. Spring does not seem to last long in this part of the world. This last year we had a cold winter (for us that is), and spring lasted all of two weeks before temperatures were topping out at 100 degrees by the end of May.
As I sat there with my new friend and bemoaned the approaching summer, the summer that many told me would let me know if I could make it in the South, he told me, “Wait for the fall, the fall down here is great.”
“How long until the fall comes?” I asked in response.
He laughed and told me that the fall would seem like it would never come, but then “once it does,” he said, “it will be beautiful, you will appreciate it, and I promise you, you will give thanks!”
During the midst of that first summer, when the heat index would top out at one million degrees and the humidity would cause me to ponder if I was breathing in more water than air, I forgot his words completely. That happens to hope sometimes. We forget all about it in the midst of the misery, but just because hope is forgotten does not mean it does not exist. Hope was there even if I did not know it, and then when October rolled around and fall became a reality I remembered his words, “It will be beautiful, you will appreciate it, and I promise you, you will give thanks!”
And so I did. First I appreciated it. I appreciated not having to wear insect repellant as if it were cologne. I appreciated not having to shower just because I went outside. Then I noticed the beauty. It was incredible. Some trees turning colors, others not, but the beauty was all around. I noticed it as I walked and travelled, I noticed it in the sky and on the ground. And then the last part came; I gave thanks because I could not help it. I thanked my God because it was too wonderful not to thank God.
Here it is again. Fall, or autumn, or whatever else you want to call it, and it is beautiful. I hope you appreciate it, and should you notice, I promise you, you will give thanks. Give thanks to God because after all this is God’s handiwork. And surely we celebrate Thanksgiving now partly for the beauty that surrounds us.
That leads me to a question I suppose. For what else are we truly thankful? Are we even able to be thankful, or are we too weary to notice all the beauty that surrounds us? I hope not! I pray that we are not too beaten down by the world to give thanks.
How do you give thanks to God? At this time of year our church, along with many churches, will begin a stewardship campaign. We could come up with some catchy phrase or slogan, but let’s just leave it at giving thanks. Sometimes I am able to see how glorious the world truly is. Sometimes I am able to see blessings mount up even among concerns. Sometimes I know with all that I am that God’s goodness surrounds me and I want to give thanks. Let us join together in giving thanks to God by giving a portion of what God has given us back to God in order that God might make this church become God’s hope and joy!
Riding the Wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
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