An Attitude of Gratitude

Ok, here's a challenge for today. In your casual conversations, ask someone if they have ever been thanked too much. Seriously. I'm sure you'll get a few strange looks -as if maybe you're succumbing to the pressures of a hectic Monday! The very thought of receiving too much appreciation for something you've done or given is mind-boggling.

I'm convinced, that in our me-first culture, there is too much focus upon what we want, what we don't have and how we'll get it. Perhaps in the haze of our hankerings we've lost the appreciation for what we've already been blessed to have.

This focus on gratitude has two compelling elements for me. First, we should express our thanks for all that we have. Yes, this can include our tangible goods - our houses and possessions - but it needs to include less perishable blessings such as the love from our family and friends and the faith that has been taught to us and entrusted to us. As an example, when is the last time we expressed our appreciation to our pastor for his work on our behalf? Maybe we've taken our priests for granted. We'll sure want them to be there - at their best -when we need them!

The second element of gratitude is more directly related to the business of fund raising and stewardship. An often overlooked, but important, step when we approach a donor prospect is expressing our thanks for what they have already provided. Most solicitations are made to folks who have given to us in the past. It is an understandable omission, in a sense, because we're so focused on the now - on the need for more. But good stewardship is also taking time to thank those who've gotten us where we are today. Solicitations beginning with prayer and then an expression of gratitude are not guaranteed to be successful, but they are guaranteed to be appropriate and authentically Christian.

"I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us and for the multitude of his good things to the house of Israel, which he hath given them according to his kindness and according to the multitude of his mercies."

Isaiah 63:7