Living on Gratitude Street

By Wally Rendel

One of David Jeremiah’s devotionals caught my attention. It was entitled “The House on Gratitude Street.” That is the name of a small devotional book written by the late J. Ellsworth Kalas, professor at Asbury Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky. When I first scanned Jeremiah’s devotional, I read it quickly, thinking, “That’s nice . . . a street in nearby tiny Wilmore, Kentucky named Gratitude.” 

Lori Vahle was a member of our church and worked in the Wilmore mayor’s office. I called Lori and told her I would like to drive on Gratitude Street in Wilmore. I asked her where Gratitude Street was located. Lori searched her records and reported that there is no such street in Wilmore. Then I realized Dr. Kalas was speaking metaphorically. Kalas wrote, “Some years ago I bought a house on Gratitude Street. I can’t say when I made the purchase, because getting the house wasn’t like signing a conventional contract. But of this I am absolutely sure, I never intend, never again, to live anywhere else.” I ordered a copy of his book and was blessed as he shared helpful insights for living at the corner of Gratitude Street and Good Life Avenue. 

I have enjoyed a humorous story I heard about a godly little lady who lived alone on meager means. During the summer, early in the mornings, she loved to stand on her porch and sing and shout praises to God. Her obnoxious, unbelieving next-door neighbor didn’t like it. He made fun of her. He would try to shout her down. One morning she was singing and praying to God for help. She had no money and needed groceries. The next morning, she found two bags full of groceries on her porch. She started jumping and singing and thanking God for answered prayer. Her obnoxious neighbor jumped out of the nearby bushes and shouted her down. “God didn’t do that,” he said. “There’s no God. I heard your prayers yesterday and I bought those groceries! God didn’t do it. I did.” The little spirit-filled lady started jumping and singing and thanking God, saying, “Jesus, you answered my prayer as I prayed yesterday for groceries and on top of that you made the devil pay for them!” Maybe she lived on Gratitude street! 

I recall the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” And I must share the poignant words Chris Brown preached, “You can’t be grateful for what you feel entitled to.”  

Grace and Gratitude 

Thanksgiving is far more than an American holiday. Gratitude Street winds its way through all of God’s Word. Grace and gratitude, double first cousins, are deeply rooted in the heart of God and Scripture. Words like gratitude, thanks, and thanksgiving are mentioned over 200 times in the Bible! The apostle Paul often parked on Gratitude Street. I am thinking of his encouragement in Colossians 3:15-17. This passage oozes with gratitude. 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 

Let me suggest that one of the best ways to let God’s Word dwell in you richly is to memorize thanksgiving passages like these Colossian verses. Or maybe Psalm 100, Lamentations 3:19-23, Habakkuk 3:17-18, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Hebrews 13:15-16, or these eight words in 2 Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.” This is Thanksgiving and Christmas wrapped up in an easy-to-memorize verse! When you memorize God’s Word, it settles into your soul.  

Worship and Gratitude 

To cultivate Thanksgiving, Paul urges us to sing. At Thanksgiving last fall, I taught a Sunday school class and suggested singing as a good way to begin each day. Nothing drives cares away like praising God. I suggested we start each morning singing the sublime and yet simple, age-old Doxology sung by Christians for the past three centuries: 

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;  
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

A few months later I saw Fran. She was in the Sunday school class the Sunday I taught. She stopped me at the grocery, store, telling me how that simple practice had changed her spiritual walk and struggle with nagging anxiety! Do you have an old hymn book? It’s loaded with wonderful Thanksgiving songs just waiting for you to sing them. I know you may not be able to carry a tune in a bucket, but you can make a joyful noise to the Lord and that counts as well. It may change your days, too. 

You see, memorizing Scripture and singing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16) is good medicine. Studies show it improves sleep, decreases depression and anxiety, increases immunity, lowers blood pressure, and helps in coping with chronic pain. If a pill could do this, everyone would be taking it. 

I was moved by the story Max Lucado shared in his book, Trade Your Cares for Calm. Max said his friend, Jerry, taught Max the value of gratitude. Jerry’s wife, Ginger, battles Parkinson’s disease. What should have been a wonderful season of retirement was marred by multiple hospital stays, medication, and struggles. Yet, Jerry never complains. He said he asked Jerry his secret. Jerry said, “Every morning Ginger and I sit together and sing a hymn. I ask her what she wants to sing. She always says, ‘Count Your Many Blessings.’” Max said “Worry refuses to share the heart with gratitude. Focus more on what you have and less on what you don’t.” You see, gratitude turns what you have into enough—and more. 

Service and Gratitude 

Paul continued in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” I know of no one who epitomizes this verse any more than the lady I have been married to for 60 years, Barbara Thackston Rendel. She is not a person who likes the spotlight, but I believe her story is worth sharing. Again and again, I have watched her translate the theology of Thanksgiving into the biography of Thanksliving! She is multi-talented and probably has a little Type A personality, which makes it difficult for her to sit on the sidelines. Some years ago, she started a ministry to help and serve others. Since joy is her favorite word, she named her non-profit ScatterJOY. And that is what she does—continually. She has no staff (only volunteers), draws no salary or expenses from her non-profit, and yet, like the Energizer Bunny (her nickname in some circles), she keeps on doing, going, serving, and scattering joy. 

Unknown to her one recent week, I jotted down her “scatterings.” It included visiting and taking meals to six different families, including birthday gifts to a 92-year-old shut-in, organizing and serving a meal to 50 men in Celebrate Recovery, joining with her friend, Teresa, to plan a patriotic celebration for a nursing home, helping a new Ukrainian family in our community find housing, planning a 60,000 meal-packing event for Liberia, buying cards and baptism gifts for teenage boys I baptized, and on top of all that, taking care of her preacher (me)! 

She does this week in and week out. I ask her why she does it. She simply remarked, “I truly love people, I love serving the needs of people, and I love hugging people and telling them I love them.” It’s not just talk. She really means it. She said her first inclinations for serving were stirred in her heart while sitting in a class for adults at Sugar Tree Ridge Church of Christ near Hillsboro, Ohio. She was only knee high to a grasshopper, but they let her participate. Interestingly, the class was the timeless Training for Service published by Standard Publishing. Barbara just wants to live, love, and serve like Jesus. She hopes people will find Jesus in the middle of these “random acts of joy.” Her motto: Find a need and fill it. Find a hurt and heal it. Find pain and soothe it. Find a heart and hug it. Find joy and celebrate it. 

We are all blessed and called to be a blessing. John Piper put it like this, “God has called us to be conduits and not cul-de-sacs.” Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with your life is your gift to God. You can be the glove into which God’s hand fits, transforming Thankgiving into Thanksliving! 

Some years ago, I first saw this verse taped in the flyleaf of Lisa Jones Cobb’s Bible. I’m not sure who wrote the words, but they settled in my heart. I read these words at Lisa’s memorial service. 

In a message one Sunday, I shared the story about Professor Kalas and his book. Three weeks later Amazon delivered a package to our home. To my surprise it was a street sign. Joe, a fellow church member and friend, sent it. He was in church the Sunday I told the Kalas story. As you might imagine, the sign reads Gratitude Street. I love it! I mounted it on the wall in one of my favorite rooms. It’s one of the first things I see early every morning when I go downstairs to brew a cup of bold Maxwell House coffee and read my Bible. Like a bridegroom, the sun is preparing to come out of its chamber (Psalm 19:5). Standing on Gratitude Street, I like to sing, 

In the morning, when I rise.
In the morning, when I rise. 
In the morning, when I rise,
give me Jesus.
You may have all this world.
But give me Jesus.

In November, Barbara and I celebrated living in the same house for 42 years. It’s not as easy to take care of as it once was. But for us, our kids, and grandkids, it’s the “homeplace.” And by God’s grace, we never intend, never again, to live anywhere else. There is no place anywhere near this place or quite like this place, so living on Gratitude Street must be the right place. 

I hope Gratitude Street is your street, too. 

Wally Rendel is a retired minister. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Lexington, Kentucky.