Monday, April 11, 2016

Two Pounds of Gratitude


Now that I live on the West Coast, friends and acquaintances are more multicultural, in particular, I am blessed by many from the continent of Asia. Recently, the Little One had some friends over during spring break, so I planned an outing to the beach. The parents were grateful for this time as were the girls. We had a beautiful day; we even saw a seal at the beach. As I returned the girls to their parents, each parent expressed their gratitude. One mother expressed her gratitude in what appeared to be a most unconventional manner - she gave me a container of 2 pounds of sliced seasoned beef from the Korean market.

I don't mind receiving a gift of food, but I'd never gotten raw beef before. It turns out, this was quite tasty! So tasty, I am now becoming a regular at the Korean market for Bulgogi - the actual name of the dish.

But this simple gesture made me realize two things:


  • It's OK to express gratitude in a way that is unique to you. It must be liberating to be so sure of yourself, that you would buy beef for someone as an expression of thanks.


  • I appreciated the expression of gratitude more than the beef itself; the beef was icing on the cake! Her simple act made me realize that my actions were important to her and therefore I was important to her.


Being grateful is contagious - because of this, I will try to demonstrate my thanks in more realistic and practical ways. A card is nice, but if more can be done, it will be. A thankful mindset allows you to see the beauty in the ordinary; over time being grateful can become second nature.

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18 [NLT]

Have you ever received an unexpected gift of gratitude? How did it make you feel?

1 comment:

  1. What an incredible post. I must admit I got some goose bumps when I read this portion "It must be liberating to be so sure of yourself, that you would buy beef for someone as an expression of thanks."

    It's so nice when someone goes out of their way to express thanks. Especially when you would have done the thing without any thanks at all :)

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