The Thankful Pumpkin by Scott Dunn
Thankful My family and I decided to try something new this year. It is something we have seen in the past and mentioned the activity to one another. However, like many spur-of-the-moment ideas, it always fell to the wayside. This idea is a pumpkin that you write what you are thankful for on with a sharpie. I’ll tell you why I love this idea, it’s because it makes me focus on God and the grace we are given. It makes me think of Colossians 3:15 (NIV), “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” I would venture to say that 2020 has left us all desiring that. The Peace of Christ.
This is a small but very meaningful and intimate way to express a form of thanksgiving to God. Intentionally taking time to pray and then write out what you are thankful for on the pumpkin is a joy. Not only does this allow us to focus on being thankful to God, but it also allows us time to reflect on how we can be generous to others.
So, this year when my wife mentioned or showed me the ‘Thankful Pumpkin’, I was intentional about it and the very next day I went and got a pumpkin and a few sharpie markers. As soon as she showed it to me it was like being smacked by a truck. I clearly needed to do this for me and my family. There are very few times in my life where I can genuinely claim to be pulled toward something. I am going to credit that to me being more in-tune to God speaking to me now than I ever have in my life. Typically, I would view things like this with stoicism. Now I see it as an opportunity.
This is such a simple activity and to think we could have been doing this all along encourages me to find other ways I can emulate this for all seasons. It allows us to build a habit of being thankful to God and showing others we are generous because God is so good to us. It is important to establish those habits of thanksgiving too. We are fallible and run the risk of falling into old ways where we take His grace for granted. Do not say you will not; Israel did it for centuries, and God took them back every time. He will do the same with you too because He is just so amazingly good to us.
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Doing this small but important activity is the essence of what 2nd Corinthians 9:11 (NIV) is about “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
