Saturday evening, I was driving with my mom, and we were on the interstate for a large part of the drive. We had been following a semi-truck for awhile, but I hadn’t paid much attention to it, knowing it was there of course, but not really seeing it. After some time, I looked at the back of the truck and saw small red text towards the bottom. These small red words said, “Deo Gratias”, which means, thanks be to God. In that moment, it was a small reminder to take time to look up, look around and to thank God, for everything.
We often are preoccupied with our thoughts, the events of the day, and the tasks we need to get done. How often do we stop throughout our days to simply thank God for who He is, what He has done and continues to do, and for what He has given us?
We have so many reasons to thank God, yet we sometimes fail to do so. We sometimes see our challenges and difficulties as being greater than the gifts in our lives. And whether we realize it or not, our challenges, crosses, and sufferings can actually be seen as blessings to thank God for too.
We must remember to thank God always and for everything, to actually look at our lives and recognize He is the reason for it all. For the people He’s put in our lives, for the opportunities we have, for all our needs that are met, for the Church and the sacraments, for the gift of our faith, and for the breath in our lungs, as we are blessed with a new day of life.
Thanking God is so simple, yet we don’t express our thanks to Him nearly as much as we should. Seeing those words on that semi-truck was a reminder to me, to thank God for it all. Maybe you sometimes need a reminder too. My prayer for today is that each one of us would stop in the midst of what we are doing and be able to say, “Deo Gratias!”
Faith and The Good Stuff 