Thankfulness

At church on Sunday morning, the teacher asked if anyone had a testimony to share about how they had seen God bless them during the past week. A few stood up and began telling stories one by one about how they narrowly survived a car accident or did well on a difficult exam. The last child standing, ready to share his blessing with the class, was a seven year old boy named Soji. In his sweet, raspy little voice he said, “I want to praise God for allowing me to see the light of this day.” As he sat back down, I held back tears. How often do I look at waking up each morning as a blessing from God, deserving the utmost praise and adoration?

One thing God has been teaching us about during our time in Nigeria is thankfulness. Not in the sense that we can list out more things that we’re thankful for, like when I would pray as a child “God thank you for spaghetti and my dog Lucky and the color blue and Arthur and…” (Am I the only one who did that?) Instead, God is teaching us about thankfulness lived out through what we do, say, and think.

Let me give a few examples using pictures of some of the people God has used to teach us this…

It’s one thing to say with your mouth, “thank you God for giving me the opportunity to go to school and gain an education.” It’s another thing to have smiles like these on your face as you get ready to go to school on a Saturday afternoon to prepare for your upcoming exams.

It’s one thing to say with your mouth, “thank you God for my family.” It’s another thing to hold your brother close to you, make time to talk with him and enjoy his company, and treat him with love and respect.

It’s one thing to say with your mouth, “thank you God for giving me a job so that I can provide for myself and my family.” It’s another thing to go through your work day facing challenges with a positive attitude, trusting God to use difficult times to grow you, and working hard to express your gratitude.

We can wake up and say “thank you Lord for this and that,” but if we spend the rest of the day complaining or being lazy or being emotionally absent, are we really thankful? Are we really showing God we appreciate him for blessing us?

One of the things I’m most thankful for right now is that I have my sister Courtney here with me. I can’t imagine being here by myself, and I am so thankful God made the way for Courtney and me to be here together. We have so much fun together, we help each other process all of the new things we’re experiencing, and we point each other toward Jesus when we’re struggling with something. I pray and thank God daily for giving her to me as a partner here. But I display whether or not I’m really thankful to God for Courtney in the way I speak to her, treat her, and think about her- in the hard times, not just the easy ones.

When she handles a situation differently than I would have, do I get frustrated and prideful because I think my way would have been better? Or do I see it as God using her, and the gifts and personality traits he created her with, to accomplish his will and maybe teach me something? If I truly believe that it is a blessing from God to have Courtney here with me, I will view each and every one of my interactions with her through that lens. She’s said something that hurt my feelings; but, I know that God gave her to me as a blessing. Thank you Lord for giving me an opportunity to extend grace to my sister after she hurt my feelings, so that we can both see a glimpse of your grace. She’s pushing me to try a new food when I’m scared and stubborn; but, God gave her to me as a blessing. Thank you Lord for using Courtney to lead me out of my comfort zone into a place where I am leaning on you and trusting you more.

Being thankful is not about being able to list God’s blessings in your life; it’s about treating the people and activities in your life as if you truly believe they are blessings. When we enjoy what God has given us- even those things that don’t seem enjoyable on the surface- we are giving him thanks.

The joy these children have- whether they’re eating, working, playing, or just hanging out- expresses to God that they are thankful for being given life each day. Life full of the laughter and victories and tears and frustrations God graciously gives to those he loves. They’ve inspired us, and we hope they’ve inspired you as well.

 

Kemi and Titi wearing beautiful smiles as they work to rake the entire compound.

Iyanu, Dami, and Timi run up to Courtney every single day (even on the weekends), begging her to do a reading lesson with them.

Seun and his contagious smile

Spending time with two of the most hilarious, energetic, and sweet kids I know- Soji and Blessing.

Tonye just arrived at the Care Center last week and is thrilled to have the opportunity to go to school and have his own textbooks!

 

At the end of our last post we listed some prayer requests. All of those are still applicable if you want to go back and look at them, and we have two to add, listed below. Thank you for praying for us! We love you!

-Pray for the seven children who were just accepted into the Care Center last week. Pray for their transition as they live at the orphanage, go to school, and build relationships with the other kids. Pray that they would know God’s love for them and have a personal relationship with him.

-Pray for Hillary and Courtney’s work with accounting/education. The vague idea of coming to Africa to help others using our specializations was a good starting point. But now that we’re here, we have to turn that idea into a detailed strategy and work towards implementing it. All week, we’ve been working with both the Nigerian and American staff of HELP to do just that. It’s not an easy task to design ways to bring about positive and sustainable change in Africa, so please pray for wisdom and insight as we seek God’s will in this area.

More sweet smiles... Iyanu on the left, Soji in the middle, and David on the right.