I love Anne Voskamp’s book titled One Thousand Gifts (http://onethousandgifts.com) because it beautifully reminds us not to take for granted the small things of life that give us golden moments and carry us through every hour of every day. She speaks of things like rainbows reflected in soap bubbles and a child’s unexpected laughter, things that happen quickly and are just as quickly missed if we aren’t careful.
God calls us to a life of continual thankfulness. Yet the world throws so many negatives our way it is difficult to stay in the grateful ring. We are so busy we never pause to see the minute by minute abundance of God’s goodness. Or we are so programmed to look for big things we bypass small things.
Giving thanks for small things is really telling God we are satisfied. We aren’t asking for more. We are accepting that each tiny gladness is more than we deserve and therefore enough.
I believe God may have given us zucchini as the perfect illustration of this concept.
Hold one single zucchini seed in your hand. Lift it up to God and declare it to be enough. Plant the seed and what happens? Abundance. A harvest large enough to feed your family with plenty left over to share. Have you ever known anyone to grow “just enough” zucchini? It’s impossible. Zucchini produces more product from a single seed than any other vegetable I know.
I still remember the first time my mom planted a garden when I was about ten years old. She put in a few tomato bushes, a few radishes, a few carrots and a row of zucchini not realizing a row of zucchini could feed the world.
She harvested and harvested and harvested zucchini. She cooked it, baked with it, and froze it. She gave it away to our friends and relatives until they refused to take any more. She found an old wheelbarrow, filled it and parked it at the end of the driveway with a sign that said “Help Yourself”. People did but the wheelbarrow never emptied.
That row of zucchini was like the never ending pot of porridge. Every day mom picked it clean and everyday there was more to pick. It wasn’t until we got our first hard frost that we were finally able to store the wheelbarrow for the winter.
God’s blessings are like the zucchini seed. If we will take the time to see them and thank him for them, they will multiply until we have to share them with others. Every time we pick the blessing bush clean, more blessings appear. That’s how God planned it. That’s how God likes it. And that’s why God instructed His children in the way of thankfulness.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
