Day 5: Gratitude focus – A school teacher who has impacted my life
Quality or name of God – My Maker
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Ideas for demonstrating gratitude to the person of focus today:
» – Call or send an email to your focus recipient today. In thanking them, name at least one specific thing you learned under their teaching—either in or out of the classroom—that impacted your life.
»$ – Sit down sometime today and write a thank you note or letter to your person of focus. Send it through the mail to arrive later this week. Include an example of how you are trying to influence others in the same way they influenced you.
$ – Purchase a small token of gratitude for this former/current teacher related to their subject matter or to some specific thing that they taught you. Be sure to include a thank you note when you mail this gift to them or before you give it to them personally.
» = free »$ = minimal cost $ = cost involved
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” (William Arthur Ward)
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When I was in the fourth grade—many, many, yes, many years ago now—we had a unit on pottery in art class. We created figurines, plates, or, as in my case, whatever our object turned out to be. I’ll gladly confess that mine is just plain ugly. My bowl/design of unknown origin is a horrid shade of yellow with a little “sun” etched into the bottom of it. My attempt at creating a scalloped top around the outside is uneven at best. But I created it.
Because I made this object—inspired by a fun art teacher, I might add—I have treated it with great care all these years. It may appear useless to others, but I created it to be a “jewelry holder,” and it serves that purpose to this day. When I take off my everyday jewelry at night, it goes right into my handmade jewelry bowl. I consider it a treasure for no other reason than that I made it.
How much more does God treasure His creations? One of my most comforting thoughts in recent months has been that God is my maker! When I didn’t know where this journey of mine would lead after suddenly losing my job, the fact that God made me, made me with a purpose, and sees a beauty in my design which may not be visible to others, He will take great care of me! In fact, the value He placed on the human race He created was so great that He sent the only Son He had to give His very life for us!
On day five of this month of gratitude, I extend the same invitation to you that the psalmist writes:
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” (Psalm 95:6, NIV)
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Additional reading (for reading through the Psalms in 30 days):
Psalm 5, 35, 65, 95, 125
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What changes in your thoughts/actions today by remembering that God is your maker? Feel free to leave a comment!