day 1412: A Huge Thank You

"...rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

For our faithful readers, you know that I asked a number of friends to contribute to Purposed worKING while I walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain.  The response was so great that the post contributions were more than the days I was gone, but that just added to my extended pilgrimage time, to which I am very grateful. Now I am back and want to say thank you to all of our guest contributors.  It was special to me to see working professionals step forward and share their faith and how they bring glory to God in their jobs and lives. We don't say thank you enough in the workplace, but imagine if we did?  What if we thanked the security guard for keeping us safe?  What if we thanked the cafeteria worker for keeping the tables so clean?  What if we thanked the tax guys for being so diligent in their calculations?  How hard is it to thank someone? It's not, but still we don't do it.  Consider the power of a thank you and try wielding some of that power today as aggressively as you like!

We are taught to be thankful for all that we have, since none of it came from us and none of it is ours.  I am thankful for those who allowed me to travel on the Camino (good for the body, mind and soul, which I will detail out in next week's Purposed worKINGS), including my wife Patti who gave me the time and space to travel and be away from home and out of touch.  With a spirit of thankfulness our days will start better and those around us will recognize our "up" attitude.  It is hard to be a complainer and be thankful at the same time. Thankfulness trumps many other negatives, so if we just start today with a thank you to those who we never say thank you, it will be a better day for all!

Reference:  Colossians 2:7 (New Living Testament)

NOTE: Purposed worKING will be moving from Google's Blogger to http://www.purposedworking.com/ in the next week or so.  Shortly, you will be asked to receive your daily email from Feedblitz.  I hope you decide to come along for a new look and improved features. 

day 1274: Thankfulness

 "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

I am just going to come out and say that there is not enough of a spirit of thankfulness when we are at work. Something not good happens when we put the key in the door or swipe the card key and cross the threshold into our workplaces. Sure, we tell people thank you throughout the day and we finish our emails with "thanks", but do we really, really have a spirit of thankfulness when it comes to our work and the people who we work with and around? When we are truly thankful for something we cherish it, we protect it, and we do whatever we have to do to keep that object, experience or person firmly in our lives. If we were to have everyone go around the room in a business meeting and do like we do in church and point out the things we were thankful for, it would be an interesting exercise to see what people highlight and even more interesting to see what they don't mention. When we do this at church, like I did this past weekend with the kids in my Sunday school class, the words come from the heart; family, friends, a house, food on the table, loved ones who care and pray for us, our church, the ability to freely worship, etc. And in this day and age, from adults you hear a lot more people sincerely thankful to have a job. But, if we come out from under the steeple and do the same exercise in the board room, I suspect the answers would be much different and way more superficial because the spirit of thankfulness is not alive and well in the workplace.

Yes, there is a thankfulness for having a job in the first place, but even that is transferable and temporary. The spirit of thankfulness is getting down under the surface and really appreciating and loving something or someone for what they do and how they support us, and in return us caring so much that we would do nearly anything to keep them as part of our lives. This is a week where we should be going about the work of becoming thankful to others around us. Where that starts is with returning to the One who we can all be thankful and asking Him to instill that spirit within us. We read in Colossians 2:7; "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." If we want to be known and seen as someone who is thankful we have to position our lives and ourselves to Him first. Someone at your workplace today needs to know that they are appreciated and that you are thankful for them. Can you seek them out, find them today and reach out to them with a spirit of thankfulness and really tell them how thankful you are for them? What you get back in return may be a whole lot more good than you ever expected.

Reference: Colossians 2:7 (New Living Testament)

day 541: Thankfulness (Redux)

First published on day 290. I decided to re-run this post as it stands true today, just like last year. Happy Thanksgiving and have a GREAT holiday break.


I am just going to come out and say that there is not enough of a spirit of thankfulness when we are at work. Something not good happens when we put the key in the door or swipe the card key and cross the threshold into our workplaces. Sure, we tell people thank you throughout the day and we finish our emails with "thanks", but do we really, really have a spirit of thankfulness when it comes to our work and the people who we work with and around? When we are truly thankful for something we cherish it, we protect it, and we do whatever we have to do to keep that object, experience or person firmly in our lives. If we were to have everyone go around the room in a business meeting and do like we do in church and point out the things we were thankful for, it would be an interesting exercise to see what people highlight and even more interesting to see what they don't mention. When we do this at church, like I did this past weekend with the kids in my Sunday school class, the words come from the heart; family, friends, a house, food on the table, loved ones who care and pray for us, our church, the ability to freely worship, etc. And in this day and age, from adults you hear a lot more people sincerely thankful to have a job. But, if we come out from under the steeple and do the same exercise in the board room, I suspect the answers would be much different and way more superficial because the spirit of thankfulness is not alive and well in the workplace. Yes, there is a thankfulness for having a job in the first place, but even that is transferable and temporary. The spirit of thankfulness is getting down under the surface and really appreciating and loving something or someone for what they do and how they support us, and in return us caring so much that we would do nearly anything to keep them as part of our lives. This is a week where we should be going about the work of becoming thankful to others around us. Where that starts is with returning to the One who we can all be thankful and asking Him to instill that spirit within us. We read in Colossians 2:7; "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." If we want to be known and seen as someone who is thankful we have to position our lives and ourselves to Him first. Someone at your workplace today needs to know that they are appreciated and that you are thankful for them. Can you seek them out, find them today and reach out to them with a spirit of thankfulness and really tell them how thankful you are for them? What you get back in return may be a whole lot more good than you ever expected.

Reference: Colossians 2:7 (New Living Testament)

day 290: Thankfulness

I am just going to come out and say that there is not enough of a spirit of thankfulness when we are at work. Something not good happens when we put the key in the door or swipe the card key and cross the threshold into our workplaces. Sure, we tell people thank you throughout the day and we finish our emails with "thanks", but do we really, really have a spirit of thankfulness when it comes to our work and the people who we work with and around? When we are truly thankful for something we cherish it, we protect it, and we do whatever we have to do to keep that object, experience or person firmly in our lives. If we were to heave everyone go around the room in a business meeting and do like we do in church and point out the things we were thankful for, it would be an interesting exercise to see what people highlight and even more interesting to see what they don't mention. When we do this at church, like I did this past weekend with the kids in my Sunday school class, the words come from the heart; family, friends, a house, food on the table, loved ones who care and pray for us, our church, the ability to freely worship, etc. And in this day and age, from adults you hear a lot more people sincerely thankful to have a job. But, if we come out from under the steeple and do the same exercise in the board room, I suspect the answers would be much different and way more superficial because the spirit of thankfulness is not alive and well in the workplace. Yes, there is a thankfulness for having a job in the first place, but even that is transferable and temporary. The spirit of thankfulness is getting down under the surface and really appreciating and loving something or someone for what they do and how they support us, and in return us caring so much that we would do nearly anything to keep them as part of our lives. This is a week where we should be going about the work of becoming thankful to others around us. Where that starts is with returning to the One who we can all be thankful and asking Him to instill that spirit within us. We read in Colossians 2:7; "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." If we want to be known and seen as someone who is thankful we have to position our lives and ourselves to Him first. Someone at your workplace today needs to know that they are appreciated and that you are thankful for them. Can you seek them out, find them today and reach out to them with a spirit of thankfulness and really tell them how thankful you are for them? What you get back in return may be a whole lot more good than you ever expected.

Reference: Colossians 2:7 (New Living Testament)