When I was little, I saw only a few episodes of “VeggieTales,” but I thought they were fantastic. One of my favorite stories was “Madame Blueberry.” It was the only episode my family ever owned, and my mom still pops it in our VCR from time to time for her day care kids, and I sit and sing along with them.
In case you have not VeggieTaled in a while, let me brush you up on Madame Blueberry: She’s a reasonably well-off French lady who lives in a comfortable house in a tree, attended by her faithful cucumber, Larry, and tomato, Bob. Sadly, she is very discontented, but to her delight, some representatives from the new Stuff Mart superstore down the street knock on her door and inform her that she will be happier if she acquires more stuff. With this poor advice in mind, she purchases cart upon cart of new household items from Stuff Mart, filling her home to the point that it slips out of its tree and plummets into a lake. Fortunately, Madame Blueberry learns from this experience that happiness is not a massive spending binge.
Amid Madame Blueberry’s disastrous retail therapy, an asparagus family buys just one ball from the Stuff Mart and then enjoys a simple picnic in the park. During their meal, Junior Asparagus breaks out into what I think is the most precious song in the show. The chorus goes, “Because a thankful heart is a happy heart. I’m glad for what I have; that’s an easy way to start. For the love that we share, because He listens to my prayers, that’s why I say thanks every day.”
Dear friends, we need to have a heart like Junior Asparagus’. It is easy to spend our college years wishing for the things we hope will come, such as marriage and a fulfilling career, at the expense of recognizing and thanking God for the blessings we have now. We might also wish we had more money to spend on clothes at McCain Mall in Little Rock or on video games at Hastings, but the temporary satisfaction the acquisition of these new things brings cannot compare with the peace and contentment that come from being grateful for what we already have.
Scripture is filled with the idea of thankfulness. “Thankful,” “thankfulness” and “thanks” occur successively in Colossians 3:15-17, almost like a refrain for the passage. When Paul said we should not be anxious about anything but should instead pray about everything, he said we need to do so with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). And just as we are supposed to always rejoice in the Lord, we are called to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, English Standard Version).
And we have so much to be thankful for. I personally am grateful for my education at Harding, my church family, my family at home, my social club, my job and my friends. I am thankful for the people I have been privileged to meet this semester, and I am thankful for the people who have patiently borne with me as I strive to wrap up my senior year.
There are many things we can thank God for: our health, our transportation, our homes, our country, our food, our scholarships. Most importantly, we can thank God for His Son and for the salvation He graciously offers.
I still have a lot of room for growth in the area of thankfulness, but I hope I will become more and more like Junior Asparagus in this regard — because happiness is a thankful heart.
