Maria's beautiful prayer of thanksgiving...

My wife loves "The Sound of Music." 

Ok, I like it a lot too... it's a great movie and some of the songs are really fun to sing and dance to with Hazel and Harper.

One scene always sticks out to me though.

It's the scene at the dinner table when Maria first gets to the Von Trapp's house. Amongst sitting on a pinecone  and then making the children feel awful for the way they had been treating her, she says a simple prayer over the meal.

"Lord... help us to be truly thankful."

What a beautiful prayer.

It hit right between the eyes and deep in my heart the first time I heard this as an adult. It made me look inside a realize how much help I need to be TRULY thankful.

When I heard this we were about to move in with my inlaws because we couldn't afford to live on our own. I was working as a valet parker... and it wasn't paying the bills. I couldn't get a better job at the time and was feeling pretty crappy and embarrassed about our situation. 

 I was not very thankful. 

Sure, I could try to "look on the bright side" and sometimes I could numb myself to the pain of where we were and only focus on what we had, the "good" things God had given us, but still, I was not REALLY thankful... I was actually pretty resentful. 

This prayer showed me that I could ask for help, and that I couldn't be truly thankful on my own, through willpower alone... I needed the Holy Spirit to work insider heart. It also showed me that to ignore the pain of the current situation, and even my underlying resentment, was not helping me to be thankful, but actually making me more and more resentful... I needed to be honest with God, and stop trying to change my attitude on my own.

I've started praying this prayer regularly, "Lord, help me to be TRULY thankful," and I also ask him for eyes to see all that there is to be thankful for. 

I don't want to say this "worked," prayer isn't like that. It's not about finding a magic phrase to say, but about opening to the Creator who loves us and is constantly drawing us closer to himself. 

But I think I am slowly becoming more thankful... and hope has flooded my heart. 

So I hope this prayer will help you too.

Peace.