Thanks for the new tires

Every night for a week, Little Miss Sunshine has added to her usual “Thanks for Mommy & Daddy, Thanks for Jesus, Thanks for T-Rex, Thanks for my family and all my friends” bedtime prayer. The new last line has been “Thanks for new tires.”

Last week while making the hour drive home from my Grandma’s, I noticed that the car had some extra tire noise, and some unusual shaking. When The Narrator got home, he inspected the tires to see wire showing on one of the front tires. The next morning, I headed to Sam’s Club with the two kids in tow and we got new front tires. Little Miss Sunshine thought it was quite the adventure to see the tire man with the funny glasses (which was ok, unlike the dentist’s funny glasses) and get new tires. I was thankful to feel safe again and praising Jesus that my tire didn’t blow on the way home from Grandma’s while driving 70 mph on the highway. God was looking out for me on that one.

That was it for me – thanks God for keeping us safe. I really didn’t think about it much beyond that. Until Little Miss kept thanking God in her prayers for the next week for the new tires. The first couple times, I thought it was cute. After a week of her little prayer, I chalked it up to stalling bedtime, and I thought to myself how – I shamefully admit – silly it was to keep thanking Jesus for new tires. It was no big deal. And that’s when God smacked me up side the head.

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

I’ve always thought of that verse in terms of hard times. When things are tough – give thanks. When it doesn’t go your way – give thanks. But as Little Miss was praying, God reminded me – everything means everything, even the little good things. Maybe especially the little good things that happen all the time that we take for granted. We’ve saved up for things like tires going bad, so it didn’t register on my radar. And that’s exactly why I needed to be thankful, not just for a week, but always.

We are so blessed, and it can be all too easy to take these modern conveniences for granted. We can easily forget that many, many in the world don’t have these things we call basic necessities. In everything give thanks. Don’t neglect the daily good things that you may think are no big deal.

Thanks for the roof over my head, thanks for a comfortable place to sleep, thanks for a car, thanks for clean running water, thanks for two healthy kids, thanks for safe parks where my kids can run and play, thanks for a yard, thanks for family who love us, thanks for not just food on the table, but a fridge and freezer and pantry full of food, thanks for a washing machine and dryer.

And thanks, God, for the new tires on my car and a little girl who reminds me to give thanks for everything.