When I think about it, I’m a fairly tepid thank-you’er.

Don’t get me wrong. I try to be very grateful. I say thank you when receiving a gift (of the physical or emotional kind). But they tend to be subdued “thank yous.”

Contrast this with the children I met Monday at James Ward School. I took the 230 books that the UVC-Downtown folks donated to the 3rd-grade class and response was amazing. Excitement, oohs, aahs, smiles, exclamations. Now this is gratitude.

We all say thank you in our own ways, but this week, go beyond a subdued thanks and stretch yourself with some verve and gusto. Psalm 150 gives us a good place to start (Clashing cymbals! Lute and harp!). Yell, dance, draw. However you do it, go beyond even that as a way to say thank you for God’s good mercies.

(I should note that the photo is of a thank-you drawn by one of the students).