By Chris WittsFriday 4 Aug 2023Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
I wonder if you’ve heard of an author called Bob Perks. Well, he in one of his books, he tells the story one day being at an airport, and as he sat there, he overheard a father and daughter talking in their last moments together. They just announced her departure to go away on the plane, and as they stood near the security gate, they hugged. And then the father said to the girl, “Well, I do love you, and I wish you enough,” – “Daddy,” she said. “Our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all that I’ve ever needed. And Daddy, I wish you enough, too,” and they kissed and she left to board the plane.
The father walked towards the window to watch the plane where Bob was standing and he watched this man. He cried. And Bob didn’t really want to intrude on the privacy of that moment. But he went up to the man and said, “Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing that it would be probably the last time?” “Yes,” Bob said. “I remember that time with my father”, he said, and Bob was intrigued by this conversation that was going on. “Forgive me for asking”, he said. “But why is this a forever goodbye?” “Well”, he said, It’s simple. “I’m old and my daughter lives a long way away. I’ve got challenges ahead of me, and, you know, the reality is the next trip back for her would be for my funeral.” “Fair enough,” Bob said. “And when you were saying goodbye, I heard you say, I wish you enough. Can I ask you, really what does that mean?”
Well, the old man started to smile. He said, “Well, that’s a wish that’s been handed down from other generations.” He said, “My parents used to say to everyone, I wish you enough” and he thought about this, and “when we said, I wish you enough,” he said, “My daughter and I, we’re wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.” And then he recited this little poem. “I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more, I do wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting, and I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. And I wish you enough hellos to get you through to the final goodbye.” And as the man said that, he went away quietly, sobbing.
I think it’s a great story, that one. It’s so heartwarming. It’s so true. It’s worth thinking about why? Because I think we need to be grateful to God for the blessings of life. There are many each day we should be able to count our blessings and say, “Well, thank you, God for so much.” That’s good, because there’s no such thing as an ungrateful Christian. Christianity, by definition, is really a grateful response to God.
Why? Well, for his love of the world and his gift of Jesus Christ, I mean, that’s surely a great deal. To be grateful for Christianity is all about being grateful. A group of students were asked by their teacher one day to make a list of, well, what were the seven wonders of the world now. There were some disagreements among the students, but they came up with the list after some voting. The great pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, ST Peter’s Basilica and China’s Great War. But as the teacher gathered these votes, there was one student in the room who hadn’t turned her paper in.
So the teacher asked the girl if she was having trouble with this list. “Yes”, she said, “I am. I couldn’t make up my mind. There were so many things.” “Well”, said the teacher. “Tell me what you’ve got. Read out your list”. Maybe we can help. And she said, “Well, I think the seven wonders of the world are able to be seen, to hear, to touch, to feel, to taste, to love and to laugh.”
Well, the room was so quiet, like you could almost hear a pin drop. Amazing to think that such a simple statement, the seven wonders of the world, those things to be able to see and to feel and so on.
It’s amazing that we can actually remember that God has given us so much. And like the girl and the father at the airport, if you say I wish you enough, you’re really saying I wish you everything that God can give you not everything that you want but what God will give to you. That’s enough. Because gratitude as a Christian is all about a lifestyle issue.
Let’s Pray
Father, we thank you today that we want to take a step forward so that we can become like you. There’s so much about you, Lord. We don’t understand but teach us lessons. To laugh in life and be grateful, amen.