Several years ago, I ran across a copy of a letter written by a woman named Lois Kaufman following the death of her husband along with two surgeries to remove tumors from her body. The letter was written to Jesus and published in the Biblical Bulletin, a publication of the Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. If the well of your own gratitude is running dry, perhaps this will help prime the pump.

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Dear Jesus,

I’ve written a lot of “Thank You” letters lately, but this is my first one to you. Until now, I didn’t appreciate your gifts to me these past several months.

Thank you for taking Don home to be with you. Now I’ll never be concerned with what the future holds for him. His days are guaranteed. Thank you for giving him such a wonderful Christmas. Thank you for making his birthday last Sunday his best ever.

Thank you for putting me in the hospital three weeks after he died and showing me the way you could use his death in my life. I wasn’t always sure how to approach others with the Gospel. But now you have given me so many openings, I can hardly handle them all.

Thank you for my most recent surgery and for the lessons it taught me. Especially for showing me how much I needed you. Thanks for letting me see what it is like to face surgery and suffering without you as I watched the difference in the lives of my roommates.

Thank you for the lessons Becky and Lori (her daughters) have learned from this. I could never have taught them the way you did. That’s because of the great Teacher you are. I can’t wait to see what you give them on their heavenly report cards.

You know, Jesus, I wouldn’t have planned my life this way. In fact, I would have planned it just the opposite. I would have sought to avoid death’s knock. I would have ducked out on the surgeries and tried to pretend that Christians were kept well by you all the time. But I would have missed out on so much.

The kids are sorry they couldn’t be with their daddy on Father’s Day, but we were glad he could be with both his earthly and Heavenly Father this year.

Oh, I could go on with this letter, but I could never cover everything I have to thank you for. So I’ll send more, but for now please accept this as a beginning.

Gratefully yours,

Lois

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When you read something like this, you may conclude that this poor woman has lost her mind, or that she has chosen to put her confidence in a sovereign God who is merciful and kind. Pure, undiluted gratitude expresses a theology that holds God as all-wise and all-good and, therefore, a God whose plan for us can be completely trusted. This is a choice we will all eventually face. But for today, on this Thanksgiving, let us make the choice that Lois made and be grateful.