• Joyful, Thankful, Prayerful

    By: Kristen L. McNulty

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

    For a few weeks leading up to my recent camping trip I had some verses on my heart and mind. The verses? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 where it reads:

    "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." 1 Thess. 5:16-18

    These verses speak less about our actual circumstances and more about our attitude about them. We're called to always be joyful, never stop praying and be thankful not just when things are perfect, but in every and all circumstances. Little did I know I was going to have plenty of opportunities to live this out.

    How It Started


    It started the day before I was scheduled to leave on my trip. As I hadn't yet found a new vehicle at the time, I had arranged to borrow wheels from a family member, but the day before I left I found out that that was no longer going to be an option because of unnecessary red tape from my insurance company. This left me with the choice of cancelling my trip or trying to make everything fit into my compact car, not knowing if said vehicle would even make it to the camp as it had quite a few things wrong with it. I'll openly admit it, my attitude that afternoon was less than joyful or thankful, but as I packed the car I really felt I needed to unpack these verses in my life and live them out even in circumstances that were less than ideal. So I commited right then and there, no matter what happened that this trip was one that was going to be filled with joy, prayer and thankfulness.

    It turns out there was going to be many opportunities to test my resolve and the attitude of my heart.

    I had to go to the hospital twice after developing a strange allergic reaction. 

    Half of my body was itchy from head to toe in a rash/hives combo. 

    I had to evacuate my campsite at one point because of a tornado and hail warning. 

    How It Ended


    Which all built to a boiling point one night at 1:30 in the morning. The wind was gusting so strongly off the lake that the sides of my tent were on the verge of collapse and water started coming in, soaking me and my bedding with each gust of the wind. I ran out to my car in an effort to find a place to stay dry and when I started it up to move it away from the tent, the entire heat shield on the bottom of the car let go, leaving a large piece of metal half attached to the car and half dragging underneath it. I was literally in a place where I couldn't stay in my tent but I couldn't leave either. There was no one around. I was utterly on my own and didn't know if I would still have a tent in the morning or how I was even going to get home when the time came. But would you believe me when I say in that moment I was okay? It's like the incidents leading up to that night were training ground for the attitude of my heart and so when things literally started falling apart, I didn't fall apart with them.

    In fact, I put on a podcast, made myself a little bed in the front seat and settled in for the night. I wasn't freaking out over what tomorrow what might bring or weighed down in bitterness for the events of that night, instead I was free to live in the moment and just enjoy being where I was, even if it's a place I would have never chosen for myself. Maybe it's because when we are thankful for the good or bad in the smaller stuff, it gives us what we need to be joyful, thankful and prayerful when we are hit with the literal or figurative storms in life. 

    An Attitude of Thanksgiving


    In my own life when I cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving, I notice that joy always follows and that was so true when it came to this trip. I can honestly say that despite all the near disasters and less than perfect moments, it was one of my favourite trips I've ever taken. When I look back, what rises to the surface in my memories isn't the storm or rain or hail or rash or hives. Instead it's the fishing adventure I had when I had to evacuate the camp. It's the holy moment I had at the hospital where I believe God allowed me to be there so I could pray for the desperate situation unfolding in the next room while I was waiting to be seen. It's the nights at the campfire with a canopy of stars overhead. It's the two hours out in the boat, reeling in one bass after another. It's even the memory of me taking an axe in the morning to that heat sheild and the relief when it fell off completely, allowing me a way to drive home. There is a strong link between thankfulness and joy. As William Law once noted:

    "If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to all happiness and all perfection, he must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it to a blessing."


    Spiritual Training


    While I recognize the outcome of a camping trip wasn't a make it or break it moment in life, it was a good opportunity for some spiritual training so the next time a big storm does roll into my life, I will be ready to approach it in the same way with joy, prayer and thankfulness. Knowing that holding back thanks for circumstances I didn't ask for is also holding back thanks for something God has allowed or ordained and who I am I to question that?

    "And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." Colossians 3:15-17


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