Spiritual Practices for Writers: The Practice of Thanksgiving

From Edie: Discover how cultivating gratitude can transform your writing life. In Spiritual Practices for Writers: The Practice of Thanksgiving, learn how giving thanks reduces anxiety, renews creativity, and deepens your connection with God as you create.

Spiritual Practices for Writers: The Practice of Thanksgiving

by Audrey Frank @AudreyCFrank

For Mom, with love.

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”(Luke 17:1-19, NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7, NIV).

I have practiced making my mother’s pumpkin pie squares for thirty years. I’ve literally driven through African rivers to find a grocer who had imported pumpkins from the rich red soil of the Ngong Hills (hello, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford). I’ve prepared Mom’s delightful dish in a mud hut and baked it inside a Kenyan pot over an open fire. I’ve practiced making her legacy Thanksgiving dish in Morocco, where pumpkins grow beside lakes the color of aquamarine gemstones. I’ve shortcut the process in England, bouncing a baby on my hip while steaming pumpkin mercifully pre-peeled and chopped by a local farmer. This year, I’m practicing the craft of pumpkin pie squares in Italy, despite the skeptical comments of my pumpkin-connoisseur Italian chef friend, who makes the best pumpkin ravioli this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I’ll never stop practicing, and I’ll never stop enjoying the benefits each Thanksgiving Day, no matter where I am.

The practice of thanksgiving is possible in every situation. Trust me, the result is delicious.

Jesus invites Christian writers to practice thanksgiving every day, in every situation, no matter who they are.

I often wonder whether the one leper who returned to thank Jesus in Luke 17 was a thanksgiving practitioner. The practice of thanksgiving changes the way we enter and exit the stories of our lives. This man, rejected in an honor-shame culture that cast him away spiritually because of his physical condition, his ethnicity, and his heritage, ran back to Jesus. Shame couldn’t stop him. He had encountered the Lord! And was healed as a result. Throwing himself at Jesus’ feet, the triple-dishonored, completely restored man poured out his gratitude.

I imagine this leprous Samaritan was intimately acquainted with anxiety. His flesh was falling off due to a disease that rendered him lonely and helpless: no hugs, no reassuring hand on his shoulder, no person drawing near to encourage. There was no known cure. Even in asking God for help, we note the lepers stood at a distance. Surely leprosy was outside of the nice, tidy formula of Philippians 4:6-7? Certainly not every situation, Lord? Mine is an exception.

Writer, are you facing what seems to be an exception today? Is anxiety overriding your gratitude?

The practice of thanksgiving is the antidote to anxiety. With gratitude, we can cross rivers of algorithm changes and AI updates, climb mountains of deadlines, and discover creative ways to complete the book the Lord has given us to write. He will appoint Peace to guard our hearts and minds.

In the end, what we create in His name will satisfy hungry souls.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends.Lord, I love the grace-filled word practice. Help me practice thanksgiving today, and again tomorrow. And again the next day. Amen.

TWEETABLE

Spiritual Practices for Writers: The Practice of Thanksgiving from @AudreyCFrank on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Don't Miss The Other Spiritual Practices for Writers! 

JANUARY: THE PRACTICE OF PLANNING

FEBRUARY: THE PRACTICE OF TRUSTING

MARCH: THE PRACTICE OF HOPING

APRIL: THE PRACTICE OF WAITING

MAY: THE PRACTICE OF DISCIPLINE

JUNE: THE PRACTICE OF PERSEVERANCE

JULY: THE PRACTICE OF PROCLAIMING

AUGUST: THE PRACTICE OF HUMILITY

SEPTEMBER: THE PRACTICE OF WORK

OCTOBER: THE PRACTICE OF THINKING EXCELLENT THOUGHTS

NOVEMBER: THE PRACTICE OF THANKSGIVING

Audrey Frank is an author, speaker, and storyteller. The stories she shares are brave and true. They give voice to those whose words are silenced by shame, the hard things in life that don’t make sense, and the losses that leave us wondering if we will survive. Audrey and her family have spent over twenty years living and working among different cultures and world views, and she has found that God’s story of redemption spans every geography and culture. He is the God of Instead, giving honor instead of shame, gladness instead of mourning, hope instead of despair. Although she has three different degrees in communication and intercultural studies, Audrey’s greatest credential is that she is known and loved by the One who made her.

Audrey is the author of Covered Glory: The Face of Honor and Shame in the Muslim World (Harvest House Publishers), an outpouring of Audrey’s heart to introduce others to the God of Instead. Shame is not unique to the developing world, the plight of the women behind veils, young girls trafficked across borders; shame is lurking in hearts everywhere. Through powerful stories from women around the world, Covered Glory illuminates the power of the Gospel to remove shame, giving honor instead. Available at favorite booksellers: BARNES & NOBLE, BOOKS A MILLION, AMAZON.