Two Words That Can Change Everything
There’s a phrase parents around the world constantly prompt their young offspring to say every time someone does something nice for them. This prompt usually comes in the form of the question, “What do you say?”
“What do you say to Mr. James for giving you that popsiscle,” your mom would say to you.
And the only two words you could say in response that would satisfy would be “Thank you.”
I’ve noticed in our high speed, results oriented culture those two words might even carry a larger punch because they seem to be becoming more extinct with time. My fear is this pattern indicates that we’re becoming progressively less grateful and observant to the gifts in our lives and the importance of recognizing them.
So here’s a little prompt for you this morning.
What do you say?
What do you say to your spouse who serves you in some small but faithful way today?
What do you say to your child who does something without being asked to do it?
What do you say to your co-worker or boss who go out of their way to help you?
What do you say to a God who has given you gift after gift including his son Jesus Christ?
What do you say?
Who’s one person who needs to hear those two words from you today?
Two words: WOW, Thanks!
This reminded me of a story my sister told me… She was with her little grandson, maybe 3-4 yrs.old, and had a lollipop in her hand getting ready to give it to him. He reached for it but she pulled it away a little and asked him, “What do you say?” He looked puzzled, thoughtful, and finally said, “Give it to me?”
I need to tell my husband “Thank you” when he does things around the house that I take for granted. I hate to admit but usually my thoughts are more like “It’s about time!” or “I shouldn’t have to thank you for what should be done anyway.”
Home is the first place I stop using these words. Kind of sad.
Thank -you Pete for this post and the other person”s who need to hear those words are my sister-in-laws. My husband’s sister is visiting from The Netherlands and her family (Husband and 2 sons) she is the life of the party and I have never laughed so hard, that’s a gift. And the other sister is always helping behind the scenes, with these family get togethers there’s alot of people that need to be served and I have seen her give coffee or make sure needs are being met with such a great attitude, she’s a real help and I appreciate her.
We cannot say these words enough Pete. Many go without ever hearing these words, even though many times we know they need to be said.
I think there are two other words that can be very powerful as well… I’m Sorry!
So true Rob.
That was my devotional this AM, nothing but thanks! Thank you Pete!
I guess the one person that needs to hear that today is you, Mr. Wilson, of reminding me how important and powerful those two words are.
I do try to express that to those around me everyday, especially to those I work with and on the hoe front.
I think it was Jesus who said “To be appreciated, you must first appreciate” Not exactly sure where it is in the Bible though! OK, maybe to much poetic license.
Thanks Frank. Not so sure Jesus said that but it sure sounds like something he would have said.
Amazing blog, actually it is great you posted this today because yesterday this is what I was teaching my son. I was teaching the meaning of being grateful and how I was so grateful to Jesus for life that He gave me. Thanks Pete.
Two simple but very powerful words!
“What do you say?” has become as instinctive for me as the actual words themselves! I say it to my children (5&7) about 20 times a day. Not that they need it…they’ve usually already said it. It’s just a habit! So much so, I actually started to prompt my husband with it over the weekend! (shudder..) I was saying “What do you…” as he was saying “Thanks, babe” and I had to switch mid-sentence into something else that made me sound less like the harping fishwife and more like Mrs. Proverbs 31! I believe it ended up something like “What do you…want to go with that?!” A work in progress…what can I say.
Too funny!!
This is easy (I obviously didn’t learn anything about humility from Blake Bergsterm this weekend)!
Seriously, the more we have, the more we seem to be entitled to here in this country! Do you think a book like Plan B was relevant 100 years ago? Sorry, bro, but I don’t think so! Folks were pleased if they ate twice a day, had shelter and weekly baths. The “nowness” of technology is not helping us either.
We (most Americans) are spoiled kids that have to be reminded to say thank you to a loving God who over and over again provides (notice I am using “we” here). Why? I don’t know, other than we have a bunch of adult “children” raising children in the U. S.
I always make sure to thank people when I’m being served, whether in retail, restaurant, airport, etc. Those are jobs that can be unbelievably thankless. I want them to know that I appreciate their hard work.
So very important in all of those settings.
Thank You, kind people. It is “hard to kick against the pricks”.
One of my favorite accounts in the Bible is of the single leper out of ten who were healed by Jesus who returned to give Him thanks. I pray often that I would be found like that one. Always thankful, especially to God.
The two words are important too… I think when we just distill it down to “Thanks”, we take away the thought, meaning and intent behind actually showing gratitude, and it simply becomes a reflexive response.
A few weeks ago I ran across this quote “If all you had tomorrow was what you had thanked God for today, what would you have left?” as I ran through the list, home, health, family, job, etc. the thing that struck me was that I hadn’t thanked Him for my salvation, and that realization saddened me to no end.
Thanks for posting this – we all need the reminder
Pete, thanks so much for this post. A much need call to action against our selfishness. As I venture into starting a church in a very traditional and religious culture, I want to be known for my gratitude. THANK YOU!
I say thank you a lot. You can’t keep what you don’t give away. I personally like to hear thank you when I do something for someone. I bought lunch for a co-worker the other day that had $1.60 to his name. I didn’t tell him, I just did it. Told him to go next door and there was a pizza with his name on it. He didn’t say thank you, he just said “really”. I am still glad I could do it. I choose two words today: Truly Grateful
Truly Grateful for Cross point and the family within it.