Always Be Thankful

Colossians 3:15--"Always be thankful." (NLT)

It's Vacation Bible School time at my church. We had a sanctuary full of kids and leaders today. Our Bible Point for the day was "Jesus gives us the power to be thankful." On first reading this I thought, "Why do we need power to be thankful? You are or you're not. It's that simple." But this says "always." That means all the time! That means even when you don't feel like being thankful. That means even when there is nothing for which to be thankful. I live a charmed life and rarely is there an occassion when I should feel anything but thankfulness. But in my pride and my selfishness, I many times feel discouraged, dismayed or disgusted--feelings far from thankful. It's those times that I need to pray for Jesus to give me the power to be thankful. I really am trying for "always."

I've had this picture for a long time--since I began doing mixed media art. It has not been until today that I've had an inspiration to use it. The base is a playing card on which I adhered this picture, added torn lettering, etched in gel medium, added stain and highlighted with gold paint.