My little sister's have been watching a lot of Veggie Tales lately. Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say they've been watching one Veggie Tale a million times. Anyhow, the video they've been watching is a story of thankfulness entitled "Madame Blueberry"

The basic story is that Madame Blueberry is a very blue berry because she doesn't have all the wonderful things her neighbors have. She spends her days crying and staring at her mantle piece where she keeps pictures of the things her neighbors have that she wants too. One day a store called "Stuff Mart" opens down the street and some salesmen pay her a visit. They convince her that if she buys more stuff that will make her happy. However, after a long chain of events (you can watch the movie if you want to know) Madame realizes that "a thankful heart is a happy heart.

After I watched the film for the first time my thought process was something like this:

"Very cute....my brothers should watch this.....wow i guess a lot of people could really use seeing this......of course not me, I'm thankful......I mean I'm not one of those ungrateful people who hate their parents or anything......"

A few years later.......
I'm sitting on the couch trying to think of something to post about. I think I'll write something about Veggie Tales....I bet if I look and study hard enough I can find some philosophical ideas in the story!! So I start thinking. I think about how "I don't need this since I'm already thankful. I think. Wait. Am I? Of course I am! Wait, maybe not. Um.....I'll think about this later. No no....I should think about this now. I know, Ill make a list of all the ways I show God and my parents gratitude so as to reassure myself!"

After much thought I drew the conclusion that I am a thankless wretch. My ways of showing gratitude to Mami for all she does for me is to grumble when she tells me to clean something, and claim she makes me do everything. I show gratitude to Tata (my dad) for the trips he's making every weekend until we move, from his job in Boston back home to see me is to spend the weekend at a friend's house. I thank God for the beautiful house we have by grumbling that our grass has weeds and that it rains too much, or it is too hot, or the mosquitos are driving me crazy. I am thankful for the family's extensive collection of books by complaining that there's nothing to read. I am thankful for my brothers and sisters by fighting with them, or by refusing their request to play risk or boggle. The list goes on.....

Don't think that I am completely ungrateful. When I stop to think about everything I have, I am grateful. The thing I've just realized is that that's not the only thing that counts. Madame Blueberry showed me it isn't enough to simply say you're grateful. You have to show your gratefulness too. I'm going to try to work on showing thankfulness, but it's difficult to always remember. Anyone have tips on how to remember to show you're grateful every day?