I had this assignment for my Worship class last quarter. The class was awesome and I was not prepared for how it would change my life and the lives of my children.
Giving Thanks and Encouraging Others in Thanksgiving
Allen Cooke
WRSP410
Dr. Rodney Whaley
Liberty University, July 15, 2010
Part 1
When I first was given the assignment to spend two weeks of prayer time in thanksgiving, I thought, “There is no way I can be thankful for 20 minutes”. In one of the videos Dow Robinson said something to the effect that we would find ourselves spending much more time than 20 minutes in prayer.
I have never been one to follow an assignment to the letter. I am somewhat of an overachiever so I feel that I have to go a little further than the assignment requires. So I decided that I would spend all of my daily prayer time in thanksgiving. I had resolved myself to the fact that for two weeks, I would not ask God for anything; I would just be thankful.
I went to bed on Saturday night, June 19th and ask God to teach me to be thankful and went ahead and got prayer coverage for the next two weeks. I assumed that God would probably have to check my pulse during the next two weeks because of my lack of constant begging and complaining. I made a commitment and I was determined to stick to it.
June 20th, 2010 Day One
I woke up this morning ready to begin my period of thankfulness. I thought that Sunday would be a good day because we have church and it’s really easy to be spiritual on Sunday. I got up before the rest of the family and prepared to get in the shower. Normally I am greeted with the warmth of the water and the steam bellowing from the shower. There was no steam or warmth. There was no hot water. Normally on a South Georgia night at the end of June temperatures would hover around 75 to 80 degrees at night so even though the water would not be the normal 120 degrees it would still be tolerable. Apparently we had a cold snap and the temperature had dipped down to around 68 degrees. 68 Degrees when you’re outside on the porch is nice; when it’s spraying out of a shower head it is frigid. I quickly showered and put on some clothes so I could go into the attic and see what the problem was. I went up the stairs into the attic and got on my knees in front of water heater. I was just about to say, “Lord, not again” ( the same thing had happened a couple of months before) when I heard a little voice say, “Be thankful”. I was reminded of my commitment to be thankful so as I knelt there still shivering from the cold shower, I took the opportunity to thank God for fresh water that ran into the house. I was reminded of a missionary friend of mine who told me stories of people who carried stagnant water in jugs for miles back to their thatch roof houses. Sometimes that had no houses at all; only cardboard boxes. I thanked God that I had a real house and running water, no matter how cold, and that I didn’t have to carry it for miles. I was reminded of the Dennis Jernigan song “Thank You Lord”. I started singing it in my head. I woke the rest of the family and let them know that we would be taking cold showers, then I sat at the keyboard and began to sing, “For all that You’ve done, I will thank You. For all that You’re going to do. For all that You’ve promised and all that You are, is all that has carried me through. Jesus, I thank You.” About that time Ashley and Hannah walked into the living room. I could feel the tension in the air as Ashley said, “You’re kidding me, right?” I said, “No, we don’t have hot water. But we’re going to be thankful”. I continued singing, “Thank You for loving and setting me free. Thank You for giving Your life just for me.” By this time Hannah had sat behind me on the couch. The tension melted and we got ready for church.
Today at Sunday school, I shared with my class the commitment that I had made to be thankful and to not ask God for anything for two weeks. I also presented to them the idea that they should try the same thing. They all looked at me like I had lost my mind. Ashley and Hannah were in that class and I could tell that this whole thing was really affecting Ashley. She’s the most emotional of the girls. Hannah is a little harder nut to crack. We spent time going around the room and one at a time saying what we were thankful. By the end of the time of thankfulness, we were all pretty much in tears.
I had borrowed a guitar from the Praise Team and brought it to class. I shared the song “Thank You Lord” with them and shared a little of the story of Dennis Jernigan.
Today, I am a thankful man. I have been reminded that no matter how difficult the circumstances seem; we still have a reason to be thankful. Today, my worship was real. Dow Robinson said that thankfulness is the key to God’s presence. I have experienced that today. I am thankful.
June 23, 2010
Things were really crazy at work today. The contract with CH2M Hill will end next week and all of us are wondering if we will have jobs next week when the county takes over Public Works. We have been assured by the county that we will all be offered jobs but we are unsure what jobs we will be offered and at what rate of pay. Most of the guys I work with have much more to lose than I do. I am not a permanent employee and so I have no investment in the company other than the six months I have been here.
No matter what happens, I am committed to be thankful. I am thankful to have a job today. I am thankful to have food and electricity today. I am thankful I have a Diet Coke in the fridge and lunch in my desk drawer.
Larry (my boss) is busy trying to get everything tied up for the transition. I fully intended to win his soul and after June 30th my opportunity will be gone. I can only thank God for the opportunity to be in his life and hope that he saw Jesus in mine.
There are serious looks on the faces of the men around me. I keep trying to assure them that God is in control. I have my moments of doubt but I know God and I know that He is faithful. I also know that He is not worried about the future and He is not afraid.
June 24, 2010
We arrived at Memorial Hospital for Patricia’s surgery this morning. Even though I have committed to only be thankful and to not ask God for anything for two weeks, I thought that God would understand that I needed to intercede for my wife. I am thankful though for a Godly wife that wants me to pray with her. I hear the guys I work with talk about having complete tyrants as wives. I am thankful that I have a very good one. I would love to be able to provide a better living and a bigger house but she has always been content with whatever we had. It is a blessing to have a Godly wife. I am thankful.
June 30th, 2010
It’s been a week and a half since I started this journey to thankfulness. It’s been tough at times and easy at times. Today was one of those mixed days. Today was the last day of our contract with the county. We had a dinner for all the employees to say “Goodbye” to some and “See you tomorrow” to others. I am one of the fortunate ones that has been asked to stay. It was hard to be thankful when they handed me my offer letter that showed a reduction of my salary but I responded to the man who would be my new boss, “I am a believer and I believe that God takes care of me. I have chosen just to be thankful for whatever He chooses to bless me with”. A year ago I was unemployed and we literally didn’t know where the next meal was coming from. Today, I have assurance of a job with benefits. I asked God to just remind me what I had to be thankful for and He gently reminded me that for over a year I haven’t had insurance; before that I had no life insurance or hope of retirement. This job, even though the pay is lower than I expected, offers me all of those things. I am assured that He is taking care of us even when we think that we could do a better job sometimes. He is still God and He is not shocked or taken by surprise. He never says, “I didn’t expect that”.
I am thankful today for the past six months with some of the most colorful people I have ever met. These are the sort of people that you want to carry with you into battle. Not a holy bunch that you would find sitting next to you in church, but good, hard-working men who would fight to the death for a friend.
I am thankful that God has given me calmness and a trust in all the changes. I am thankful that He has given me a job that provides for my family. I am thankful that He is showing me how to be grateful and content with what I have.
July 4th, 2010
Today marks two weeks since I began this period of thankfulness and it ended the same way it began; with no hot water. I almost laughed when I turned on the water this morning to find chilly water instead nice steamy hot water. It wasn’t quite as much of a struggle to be thankful today as it was two weeks ago. What a transformation!
Patricia still has not been feeling well since her surgery on the 24th so we had tentatively planned to stay home from church this morning. We spent yesterday evening in the emergency room because of an infection from her surgery so she was feeling pretty bad.
I woke Micah up so we could go to town and pick up Tricia’s prescriptions. Our plan was to drop the prescriptions by the pharmacy and then run over to Lowes just to look around while we waited. I told Micah, “They have grill I really want but your job is not let me buy it”. Things never go as planned in our family. The pharmacy didn’t open until 10AM on Sundays so that meant we had time to kill. Two Cooke men with time on their hands and a little money in their pockets is not a good combination. Anyway, Micah did not fulfill his duties. I bought the grill I wanted.
This afternoon we spent putting the grill together because the assembled grill would not fit in the Durango. I am thankful that I got to spend the afternoon with my son doing “man” stuff. I am also thankful for $4 prescriptions since I spent a king’s ransom on the grill. (We bought a few fireworks too) I am thankful that we have hot water again. I am thankful that today we are celebrating our country’s birthday and independence. We will celebrate like so many other families; we will grill (on my brand new grill) and light some fireworks. This celebration will be different though. This year I am truly thankful. The past two weeks have changed me and allowed me to see those things that I cherish and I am truly thankful.
Part 2
Thankfulness as the Key to Worship
I. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
a. Introduction and explanation of the assignment
b. Explaining the process
II. Thankfulness; the key to worship
a. Psalm 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
b. Using your key.
III. Spend time in thanks
IV. Thank You Lord
a. The story behind the song.
b. “Thank You Lord”
V. Enter into His Gates
Part 3
What do you have to tell others about not only what scripture teaches but how one can live these teachings about giving thanks through prayer?”
In Video Lesson #2, Mike Coleman made a statement that was pivotal for me. He stated that God’s will for our lives was that we be thankful. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) I guess that is what I would tell anyone about living a lifestyle of thankfulness.
We are so consumed sometimes with seeking the will of God. I, myself, have spent countless hours in prayer seeking the Lord’s will for my life.
I have always instructed my Sunday school class that there are prayers that God will not leave unanswered. God will answer those prayers that will draw us closer to Him. If we pray that God will make us thankful, He will do it, because it is His will for us. His ultimate desire for us is that we be in close relationship with Him.
I am a worship leader and I guess I never made the connection between thankfulness and worship. When I looked back at those experiences in corporate worship that were the most meaningful I noticed that those were times when we had taken time to express our thankfulness to God first. Mr. Coleman stated that thanksgiving is the key to worship. I immediately thought about how meaningful the worship services during the Christmas season always seem to be. We begin that season with the holiday of Thanksgiving. Could it be that God honors us because we, as a nation, take pause for thanksgiving?
I have already changed my methods of worship. Whether I am leading a congregation or am spending time in personal worship, I begin with thanksgiving. I am trying to not only make my lifestyle a lifestyle of worship, but also of thanksgiving. One cannot exist without the other.
Part 4 Follow up on those who listened to your presentation to see if they were motivated enough to practice a greater level of thanksgiving in their own lives.
During the course of this assignment my family felt the leading of God to leave the church we were attending and to search for a new church. I no longer have contact with the entire class that I presented this to. My two daughters were members of that class so I asked them whether or not they were motivated by my presentation.
I emailed my daughters and asked them how that lesson had changed their way of thinking. This was my oldest daughter, Ashley’s, reply:
Okay...here's what I'm going to relate it to...Do you remember last night when we were watching Everybody Loves Raymond and Debra was being super nice to Marie and pretending like nothing bothered her? Well, other than Debra blowing up in the end, that's kind of the perspective, I took. Rather than saying negative things I substituted in positive things and even decided to change my status on FB talking about being thankful for things for about a week to keep me motivated. I did pretty well, until the hot water heater broke for the 3rd time! Life happens and makes us take things for granted...if you take the time to be thankful in life and your prayers, it brings to light the little everyday things you should be thankful for.
But seriously, it did motivate me just by hearing and seeing the difference it made in you. Changing the way you think about things can change your whole attitude!
And this was my youngest daughter, Hannah’s response:
My dad's lesson motivated me a lot. When you think about how much we have been through as a family and then the stuff that my parents have had to go through alone, it is very unlikely for someone these days to be thankful, but obviously my dad isn’t like people these days. Being thankful is more than just saying “thank you” every once in a while. It is about actually feeling overwhelmed with a feeling of love and knowing that there is no way you deserve it; that is a feeling of true thankfulness. I only learned this by watching my parents. Me and my sister, after hearing the lesson on thankfulness from my dad, decided to be more thankful for the things that we have instead of the things that we are missing. It really puts you in a different place to look at life. God has blessed our family more then you can know, but we have also had some really hard times. I am so thankful for every situation that we have been through because it makes us love our God so much more!
I have much for which to be thankful.
§ Instructor FeedbackI have much for which to be thankful.
Grade : 100 out of 100
Comments : Wow! What an experience reading your assignment (journal). I read every word of it. In fact I was drawn to it like a magnet. Ashley's and Hannah's response brought tears to my eyes. What you did before your daughters is more important than the grill, the house, or anything else you may ever own. They will be changed forever and their love for you is far more deeper. God is dong a great work in you. I will covet to pray with your regarding your home. Also, if I am ever in South Georgia, I'll bring the steaks and we can try out that new grill. God bless you, my friend, Dr. Whaley
