I am a mixed bag of emotions at the beginning of October. On the one hand, I really love the season with all the colors and the mildly cooler temperatures that get us into our sweatshirts. On the other hand, I know what’s right around the corner. I won’t even say the word! And October is always a bit nostalgic for me.
Interestingly, the National Day Calendar has designated October 1st as National Pumpkin Spice Day, National Homemade Cookies Day, and National “Jiffy” Mix Day. All of these fire up my senses and memories. As a kid, this was always my favorite time of year.
Mom was a baker and she would usually start her seasonal baking around this time. A large chest freezer in our kitchen would soon be filled with all sorts of homemade cookies, pies, and loaves of pumpkin, date, zucchini, and banana breads. There were also different kinds of homemade fudge and peanut brittle. One of my favorite pies was a Dutch apple cream cheese crumble pie. Mom would make the standard size pies but would make dozens of five-inch mini personal size pies. You could honestly say that you ate an entire pie in one sitting!
Then there was the homemade chili and Jiffy Mix cornbread muffins. I would get home from school and smell these foods cooking just walking up the driveway. Open the door and the aromas welcomed you home.
Back then, I could eat all of that and never gain an ounce. Today, I can pack on five pounds just by smelling it! I’m pretty sure I put on a pound or two just thinking about it. That’s not fair because I appreciate it much more today than I did back then. And therein lies the rub.
Why do we not appreciate what we have when we have it? Why must it take the absence of something to snap us out of our gratitude lethargy? I think we are all guilty of this to some extent.
Dr. Gene Getz, author of The Measure of a Man, and a former pastor as well as a former professor at Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Theological Seminary writes, “When we fail
to appreciate the good things we have, we risk losing them! Like the ancient Israelites who lost their wealth after taking it for granted; who in failing to appreciate their freedom, eventually lost it; who in failing to appreciate their exceptionalism, became ordinary; and who in failing to appreciate their God-ordained leadership role among the nations, ultimately became subject to foreign, oppressive rule.”1
I need to draw a distinction between gratitude and appreciation. Gratitude is being thankful for what has happened in our life. Appreciation is “the ability to recognize and value the goodness, beauty, or significance of someone, something, or a particular moment. It doesn’t necessarily depend on receiving a gift or favor from another person.”2 Look at a passage that shows both attitudes.
Luke 17:12-19 says, “And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: (13) And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. (14) And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. (15) And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud 
voice glorified God, (16) And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. (17) And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? (18) There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. (19) And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”
Personally, I believe 10 lepers were thankful. Why wouldn’t a person be grateful for the instant healing of their bodies from a disease that has ostracized them from society ? Jesus said, “Go, show yourselves unto the priests” and they went! One, though, demonstrated appreciation. He appreciated the healer, not just the healing. He recognized and acknowledged the “value, beauty, and significance” of the One who gave this gift.
ALWAYS have gratitude but never forget to appreciate the one who has given us such a meaningful gift. Psalms 107:1 reminds us, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
1https://bibleprinciples.org/what-we-dont-appreciate-we-risk-losing/
2https://www.happierhuman.com/gratitude-appreciation/
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
