A Story of Real Life Giving Thanks, episode 162

0:00 If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right here at the When You Love a Prodigal podcast and also help and hope for your own life journey. And as I always say, be sure to write down anything you want to remember and apply in your life. You know, if you have listened to many of my podcasts, then I love to encourage all of us to give thanks in everything. And I know that I just did a couple of episodes talking about that specific thing, giving thanks in everything.

0:42 But today, I decided I would give you an example of how I live that out. I got to practice what I preach in real life last week. And though this story is not about a prodigal, it's certainly a practice to live out before your prodigal or anyone you hope never becomes a prodigal. I was flying to Montana to spend Thanksgiving with my daughter's family. She and her husband have three teenage boys and two elementary age kids. They are all wonderful. And I usually, and again, have great conversations with each of them because I really am intentional to talk with them.

1:32 We played several board games, not my favorite, but theirs, and went to church and lunch after church. We just had a wonderful time. But this story begins before I arrived. As you know, airplane seats are a little snug. At one point, I opened my purse to pull my phone out. In that purse, I have a small RFID wallet. It's brown. It's zippered clothes. So it and it contains all of the cards that I might ever need credit cards, health cards, anything that I have a card for.

2:16 Apparently, as I was closing my purse, I did not notice that my small brown wallet had tumbled out onto the floor beneath my seat in the plane. My daughter met me at the airport and I had all of my luggage. Unbelievably, I went carry on and I had my purse. As we were driving to CVS for her to pick up something, I decided I should get something because I don't breathe well in cold air because I have asthma. I noticed my little brown wallet was not there.

2:58 I searched thoroughly twice, took everything out of my purse. It was not there. What did I say? I said, thank you, Lord. Several times because my level of panic was rising because I know I'm to give thanks and everything. And even as I dreaded the hassle of having to cancel all those cards and get new ones, I said, thank you, Lord. When we arrived at her house, my daughter's house, I immediately called the airport lost and found a wonderful young woman searched various places called the different places where it might have gone, including my flight location and the security people. No one had it.

3:54 So she gave me the Delta number to call, which I did three times over the next couple of hours. I called Delta and left a nice message and my number saying, please call me and tell me you have my wallet. And I said, thank you, Lord, each time, assuring the Lord that I knew that he knew where my wallet was and please would he lead me to it. The kids got home from school. I told them the whole story and again said, thank you, Lord.

4:34 They were amazed that would not have been what they would have said. After dinner, I received a call from Delta when the plane was being cleaned. A worker found my wallet under the seat and turned it in. Delta staff put it in a big bag and that went to the front check in counter and into a safe. I was pretty impressed that they put it in a safe. They said I could come and claim it in the next few hours or in the morning and it would be there. Just show my ID. So two of those teen boys drove me through the snow and ice to the airport.

5:18 It's a good thing I couldn't have found my way and I probably would have ended up in a snow bank. So they went to the airport with me and they went in with me. I showed my ID and the man at the desk went back to the safe, pulled out that bag and handed me my wallet. And he was so happy to be able to give it to me and I was so happy to receive it. I thanked him profusely and I thanked God. And I talked with the boys all the way home about giving thanks in everything.

5:59 Not only is it a command in Scripture to give thanks in everything, but it does wonderful things. It sets my heart and mind at ease. It gives me peace and it grows my trust in God. And yes, if my prayers and desires are answered, I can say thank you with overflowing gratitude. And if the outcome is not what I would choose, I trust that God is doing a good work to grow the likeness of Jesus in me.

6:39 And the extra blessing was that I got to talk about it with each of my grands, some of the two younger ones together and each of the older ones individually, so that they can take a step closer to believing that God is always working in us to grow our character, our trust in him, our likeness to Jesus. And so that they can begin to practice giving thanks in all things, recognizing that even if it doesn't turn out the way we want, if God doesn't make it happen the way we want, we can still trust him in that process.

7:25 Sometimes it brings healing and hope to our relationships when they see us not in our natural way to respond to things we don't like, but in a supernatural response that demonstrates the beautiful work of God in us. And so I say to the parents of particularly some kids that are around you all the time, and they've seen you when you don't always respond well to things. They've heard you when your temper rises and your voice gets louder and they're the object of what you're saying.

8:06 It's really good when they can see you with peace, with assurance that God is still in control, and that you can say to God, thank you, even in something that you don't like, even in something that's very hard. So let me ask, is there something you would want to thank God for now? Surely there's something good going on in your life, maybe even in the life of your prodigal. And you can say thank you, Lord, for progress. Thank you, Lord, for some good choices. But also that could easily be something hard.

8:49 And Christmas time, holiday time often brings to the surface some of the stresses that we're experiencing. And often we find ourselves at odds with our loved ones during the holiday time. They disappoint us. We disappoint them. And so I would encourage you, if there's something difficult going on, that you would be sure to thank God. And if you can happen to do that in front of your loved ones, it might give them a new perspective and a better relationship with you. Because they see you trusting God even when things don't happen the way you want.

9:35 Next week, I'm going to give you some more that's going to, I hope, be helpful during the Christmas season. In the meantime, just give thanks to God, no matter what happens or how it turns out. Trust Him that He's working in you and maybe in your prodigal as well. God bless you.