language of gratitude
Wow, it has truly been an unforgettable month here in Guatemala! Jack, Grace, and I have been welcomed into the Adventures Guatemala team with open arms, and we have been soaking up every minute! So far, we’ve gotten to assist the team in hosting the Gap Year squad, which includes participating in ministry, teachings, worship, and sitting in on staff meetings. And this upcoming week is the launch of their discipleship training program, Hineni—a program that equips men and women into cross-cultural ministry. All in all we’ve just tried to be present as we learn more about what it looks like to run a base and all of the workings necessary behind the scenes to make things happen!
One of the biggest things that stands out here on the Adventures Guatemala team is the language of gratitude that exists among them. Seriously, I’ve never seen anything like it, and it’s been transforming my life like no other! They just approach life and each other with this special language that reminds me of Jesus and the way He walked on this earth.
^Adventures Guatemala team + 6 interns
[gratitude] : quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
In other words, having a language of gratitude means responding to situations through a lens of thanksgiving. And bringing God into that can look like reflecting on the truths that exist in His Word—Psalm 23, for example, is a go-to of mine. This doesn’t mean we minimize the hardships that are happening, because those are very real and very hard. However, rather than dwelling on the hardships and letting them define your life, you respond with “Lord, what do YOU say about this situation?” “Where are YOU in this?”
I think for the last year, I’ve been responding to every hard and uncomfortable situation with the question “why, God?” …And I’ve found that this response has dug me into a deeper hole of doubt and confusion and wallowing in my sorrows. The reality is that sometimes we just don’t know why things are happening; sometimes there are just evil forces at work in our lives that deter us from all that the Lord has for us, and there isn’t a happy explanation.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
That being said, I’m actually not even sure we’re supposed to have all of the answers to why things happen the way that they do. Because if we had all of the answers, we would essentially have no need to rely on the Lord and trust Him in the unknown. Having “all of the answers” gives us a false sense of control and distracts us from trusting the Lord with our whole hearts and whole lives.
So, how does the language of gratitude work? Well, it starts with a simple change in language. For example, let’s say you’re at a restaurant with a friend and you’re in a rush and the food takes longer than expected to come out. Your natural response might be to complain and say (or think) something like “wow, seriously? I’m on a tight schedule and now this is ruining my whole day…”
However, if we were to look at this situation through eyes of gratitude, we might instead say “wow, thank you Lord, that I get to spend extra time with my friend today!”
To take it a step further, the Adventures Guatemala team tells a great story about walking with a language of gratitude:
One day, the entire team was crammed into a van headed into the mountains for a staff retreat. A few hours into driving, they went over a speed bump and damaged the transmission on the van, coming to a complete stop. (Seems like it would be an extremely frustrating situation, right??) Naturally responding, one of the team members, Gabe, jumped out of the van and prayed: “Lord, what are you doing here?” Sure enough, a few minutes later, Gabe strikes up a conversation with a local man in the area and asked where the nearest church was so that they could go preach. This man, who hadn’t been to church in years, happily accompanied the team to the nearest church. And at the end of the service, this man rededicated his life to Jesus!!
I look at this story with eyes of inspiration. While the team had an agenda of where they were headed and what their day would look like, God had something totally different in mind! It can be so easy to look at my own agenda and get frustrated when the events of that day don’t match what I’m trying to get done. But what if, rather than getting frustrated or upset, I turn my head to The Lord and ask, “God, what are You doing here and how can I partner with that?”
One of my goals this year is to practice the language of gratitude. Please join me!
Peace & Love to you all <3
Mikayla
Wooooo! This one was super convicting! Thanks for sharing what you have been learning. I’ve been pretty convicted about this same thing lately. I also recently heard someone say, “Don’t call it as you see it. Call it as He (God) says it!”
thank you, I am thankful for your blogs and kind words of wisdom
Wow, that was powerful, it really did make me stop today and think of my missed times of gratitude with the Lord. I will be on call more now!! Thanks, Mikayla, very powerful message!
Whoa – “Lord, what are you doing here?” seems so much more meaningful than the “Thank You Lord” game! Turns the situation from introspection to selflessness. Gonna have to remember this one, though I imagine it’s more difficult to actually practice it!