26 Nov, 2008
OVERWORKED MOM GETS ATTITUDE INSTEAD OF HELP FROM DAUGHTERS
DEAR ABBY: I spent Thanksgiving weekend with tears streaming down my face. Both my adult daughters spent the holiday with us.
I served dinner to more than 20 people and got no help cleaning up until Friday morning when I had a meltdown and demanded some. Then my older daughter said, "sorry," in a sarcastic tone, and my younger daughter responded with, "Anybody mind if I take a shower now?"
I have spent my life trying to make holidays special for my daughters so they would have happy childhood memories. All my hard work seems to have backfired. Instead they have developed a sense of entitlement - as if I am obligated to do everything.
(See yahoonews.com for the full Dear Abby letter and response.)
How are you entering your thanksgiving holiday? Are you thankful for what your family does for you? Are you eager to pitch in and make the experience the best it can be for everyone? Most importantly, are you thankful to God for who he is and what he has done in your life?
What's the Password?
Psalm 100 (The Message)
1 On your feet now - applaud Yahweh!
2 Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence.
3 Know this: Yahweh is God, and God, Yahweh.
He made us; we didn't make him.
We are his people, his well-tended sheep.
4 Enter with the password: "Thank you!"
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
5 For Yahweh is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.
What a great translation of the favorite Thanksgiving Psalm. The Hebrew name for God, Yahweh, or Jehovah was the most sacred name for God. If we stop and recognize him for who he really is, we will never say "sorry" in a sarcastic tone when he asks us to do something. Instead we will:
- give him a standing ovation (1)
- laugh - life is FUN! (2)
- sing out our praise (2)
- know this: HE is God, and we aren't! (3)
- start our prayers with "thank you" (4)
- be "at home" when we praise God (4)
- remember that God is amazing (5)
How about you? Are you ready to put some THANKS into you Thanksgiving, and into your life? Would starting every prayer with thanks help you appreciate what you have more, and make you more positive about the challenges you may be asking God to help you with?
I love the word-picture of "enter with the password: 'thank you'." What if when you forgot to start your prayer with thanks, God interrupted and asked, "Password?"
We can easily reflect an sense of entitlement like the daughters, and feel like God is somehow obligated to give us what we want. We feel at home being waited on. The Psalm tells us to "make yourselves at home, talking praise."
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season? Enter with the password "thank you" and make yourself at home praising God.
We live in uncertain times. The headlines are far more negative than positive. I searched news stories for two hours today trying to find any story having to do with thanksgiving!
Yet we have so much. We are so blessed. We have so many opportunities.
The best thing about making yourself at home, talking praise, is that you'll waste far fewer words being negative. For someone you know who is not yet a Christ-follower that will seem very attractive. Being positive can be very contagious.
And here's a promise: a friend who is attracted to the Jesus you follow, and who decides to follow Jesus for themself, will be cause for thanks - here and in heaven!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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