Dwellings of Thankfulness

Jeanne Stewart, Oklahoma

 

   My grandmother lived in a very small Kansas town. Every other Sunday we would drive an hour to go visit her. There was so much love and fun for my brother and me as youngsters at her place with all its various sheds and barns to explore. She lived near the only downtown street, which looked more like a ghost town with empty buildings of times past, boarded and closed. A narrow path of hardened ground led from her back yard fence to the only small grocery store still open for business, connecting my grandmother with her familiar yesterdays. The old red brick storefront building with wooden floors and high ceilings contrasted nostalgically with today’s plentiful supermarkets and mega parking lots.

 

   I have many affectionate memories of this wonderful grandmother and her dwelling place. The strength of her honesty and character seems more dear as the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays approach. She received Jesus into her heart a bit later in life, but in my young eyes she had always stood as an oak of righteousness. I only knew my grandmother as a Godly woman whose gentleness caressed my family, the next generation of Stewarts. My destiny was changed, giving a future and a hope, a dwelling of trust in God and thankfulness, as I gave my will to Him to choose His best path for my life.

 

   During family life in the Old Testament times, it was important to pass down to the next generation His ways and teachings, to be a people of the Commandments God had diligently given to be taught. (Deuteronomy 6) I have often imagined how magnificent it must have been within the dwelling places of God’s people as they celebrated the feasts of Jehovah. Thanksgiving and worship was done together in the midst of eager hearts sharing a meal. They sang the Psalms, songs of praise and worship, and taught their children from generation to generation the importance of a heart for worship and thankfulness as we read in Psalm 100, a psalm of thanksgiving:

 

   “Shout with joy to the Lord all you lands! Worship the Lord with gladness, come before Him singing with joy, and acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.”

 

   A heart of thankfulness is in fact necessary as we each grow older. God’s faithfulness to us through our lifetime is a reassurance to His children as our path in life is a walk of learning grace. Understand that the words dwell and dwelling have two meanings. The latter refers to one’s habitation while the former speaks of lingering, as in speech or thought. As we give recognition in all things, we remember to be thankful for the coverings of our habitations and also the warmhearted memories of life within our homes. We realize Father God is deeply concerned with the total well-being of each of His children, ‘…for out of weakness we are made strong…’ (Hebrews 11:34) It is important to continue sharing with the children of each generation a heart for worship and thankfulness. In fact, God’s great mercies change our dwellings to be places of character and honesty spoken around meals of His grace. May we as families of God always have dwellings of thankfulness within which our children may grow in grace.