"Lord, thank you for my toothbrush"

In The Bible and The New York Times, author Fleming Rutledge writes:

"The life of thankfulness—biblically speaking—is lived in view of the hard things of existence. As the life of thanksgiving deepens, we discover that the more mature prayers of thanksgiving are not those offered for the obvious blessings, but those spoken in gratitude for obstacles overcome, for insights gained, for lessons learned, for increased humility, for help received in time of need, for strength to persevere, for opportunities to serve others."

That makes me wonder how thankful I am for less obvious blessings. When my family and I went to Venezuela in the summer of '06 on our first "family mission trip," part of that experience was traveling out to the jungle to minister among the Warao people. "Jungle" is probably not the best term to describe where we were, because where we went was only accessible by water...but it's the best word I have. Anyway, we were among people who live in huts, sleep in hammocks, and travel by canoe. Clothing was minimal (some of the kids were "naked as a jaybird," as we say where I grew up) and hygeine was questionable. Because of their unvarying diet, evidence of vitamin deficiencies was obvious.

What I'm getting at is that I was reminded then (and I'm reminded now) that some of our blessings are things we normally take for granted. When's the last time you thanked God for clean water or a bar of soap or a loaf of bread or a toothbrush?!? How about electricity? On a different note, when's the last time you thanked God for painting a sunset or dotting the night sky full of stars? See where I'm going with this?

May this Thanksgiving Day be filled with gratitude for the obvious and the not-so-obvious blessings! "Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns" (Philippians 1:3-6 NLT).