Two Simple Words

One wouldn’t think that putting two simple words together would be such a difficult task. By the time most of us are two or three years old we are stringing many words together to form complete sentences. Two words shouldn’t seem that difficult, but for some reason forming the strength to say, “Thank You” can be tough at times.

When our children are young, we feel the need to constantly remind them to express their gratitude.The importance of expressing our thanks is ingrained in us at an early age.

So why is it that as we grow older we find it more difficult to say?

Last year, I came to the realization that I don’t do a very good job of telling people how much I appreciate them so I tried to find ways to express my gratitude on a more regular basis. I tried to think of people who have made an impact in my life; people who showed me love in unexpected times; people who extended a hand when I needed help and even people who believed in me at times when I didn’t believe in myself.

I specifically remember picking up the phone one of the last times I went back home to my childhood home in Minnesota. I dialed the home number of a former teacher I had my senior year in high school. I’ve kept in touch with this particular teacher over the years with annual Christmas cards but this time I felt the strong nudging to actually talk to him. So I called. When he answered we shot the breeze for a few minutes and then I just told him how much I appreciated him. Back then he wasn’t only my teacher; he was an encourager. At that point in my life, I needed other people to invest in me because I was fearful of what my future held. I had become a mom right before my eighteenth birthday and my world was tipped upside down for a short moment while I tried to figure out how to get focused again. This man became a friend to me and my baby girl. When he saw my little bundle of joy he gave her the nickname, “Pocahontas” because of the thick head of dark hair she had. The phone conversation didn’t last more than a few minutes but I felt so much better when I hung up.

Last year I tried to be more intentional about writing notes to people to simply tell them how thankful I was for them. This attitude of gratitude is beginning to grow on me and I’m hoping to continue to focus on it in the future. I let so many little things slip by me on a regular basis- it’s sad, really.

The last few weeks my husband, David, and I have been working on filming a documentary of our story since his burn injury. We’ve been surrounded by friends, family members and former co-workers as they’ve volunteered to be interviewed by our video guy. This has created many special moments that we’ve been able to share while we’ve casually visited, or as they’ve answered some of our questions and we’ve been able to collect little pieces to the puzzle that we’ve been trying to put together for the past 15 years. These times together have also given us the incredible opportunity to hug them and tell them, “THANK YOU” for specific things that they’ve done for our family over the years.

I am so very grateful. It’s overwhelming at times to realize just how much others have sacrificed for me, whether in the form of a phone call, a hug, a lunch date, a delivered home cooked meal, a visit, a gift, a prayer…the list goes on.

I can never repay them all. The best I can do is to try to reciprocate by paying it forward- to find a way to bless someone else and to be filled with a spirit of thankfulness.

Is there someone you need to say, “Thank You” to today?