A Simple Thank You

Heidi McLaughlin

I dislike weeds. If untethered, they take over the fertile soil and rob the beauty of a manicured landscape. That’s why I was out on a rainy Saturday afternoon pulling tall and stubborn weeds from the entryway of my subdivision. Picture this little old lady (me) balancing on rocks and terrain pulling out nasty, ugly weeds. I’ve made my home there for 28 years and am a familiar face in our neighbourhood. Yet car after car drove by without a wave or acknowledgment.

Or anyone stopping to help.

I was startled when a lady in a black SUV stopped, lowered her window and shouted out a simple “thank you.” Then drove off. I was profoundly shocked how deeply this simple “thank you” impacted me. I think we’ve become so used to self-absorbed lives that we might have lost the simple courtesy of stopping to say, “thank you.”

But this isn’t just a 21st century dilemma. The apathy of thanklessness grips my heart when I read the story of ten lepers crying out and shouting in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master have pity on us” (Luke 17:13). Of course, Jesus had pity on them, and He healed them. Without any acknowledgement or gratefulness for their healing the lepers were on their way. Except one. “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him-and he was a Samaritan” (Luke 17:15). Then after a little back and forth conversation between Jesus and the leper, Jesus said, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Your faith has made you well.

I want to be like the one leper, don't you? Who stops to recognize the goodness of God, or simple acts of people’s kindness. As Christian leaders our bar is high, and we are to set the standard for revealing Christ’s character and behaviour. The One who looked to Heaven and gave thanks to His Father before He performed the miracles of the loaves and fishes. When Jesus sets the example of thankfulness should we not do the same?

I challenge each one of us to become women of radical thankfulness. If we want to stand out and be a light as Christ followers, it can start out with a simple “thank you.” Your faith will make you well.