You can’t say a kids’ show can’t teach you anything.
One of the best lessons that I continually remind myself of is rooted in my childhood and the show/movie series Veggietales. The installment called Madame Blueberry centers around a blueberry who is “so blue she don’t know what to do” because she is discontent with her possessions. She frequently cries and complains that her house and everything in it isn’t nearly as good as what her neighbors have. Then a trio of smooth-talking salesmen show up at her door and share with her all the wonderful things she can buy at a place called Stuff Mart. Thinking she can at last find contentment by acquiring the things she desires, Madame Blueberry journeys to this enormous store and spends countless dollars buying everything she thinks will make her content.
But it’s never enough. She’s still unhappy.
On her way home with her plethora of worldly goods, Madame Blueberry happens upon a little girl who is celebrating her birthday. All the little girl has at her party is her parents and a single piece of apple pie. Though this could be cause for complaint, the little girl instead sings this song:
I thank God for this day
For the sun in the sky
For my mom and my dad
For this piece of apple pie
For the love that we share
Cause He listens to our prayers
That’s why I say thanks everyday
Because a thankful heart is a happy heart
I’m glad for what I have
That’s an easy way to start
For the love that we share
Cause He listens to our prayers
That’s why I say thanks everyday
This simple song from my childhood has never faded from my heart. It’s a humble tune, but it packs a huge message we ALL need to remember.
A thankful heart = a happy heart.
We may look at what we have –or don’t have– and compare ourselves to a friend or a stranger on the internet and feel dissatisfied. It’s ok to have goals and dreams of things we want to buy or achieve. But until we learn to be thankful for what we already have, no amount of possessions or popularity or whatever else we may desire on this earth will ever be enough. We will find ourselves in a constant cycle of wanting the next thing, getting it, still finding ourselves unfulfilled, and then moving on to the next thing we hope will do the trick.
In the Veggietales story, Madame Blueberry took all her stuff from Stuff Mart home and packed it into her house. You know what happened? The sheer weight of it all destroyed her home and she was left with… nothing. Or, so she thought. In the end, she still had her loyal friends by her side – and God too. She found peace and contentment in what she did have and discovered the key to having a happy heart like that little girl.
I am just as guilty as Madame Blueberry or anyone else of pinning my hopes and happiness on something I don’t have. I have moments of feeling blue and not knowing what to do. But eventually, I circle back to this childhood lesson and remember that I am blessed already. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for! True happiness isn’t found in the earthly, but in the eternal – in Jesus! When I understand that, I can then see how much He has already done in my life and all the little beauties He has scattered throughout ordinary days for me to find like treasures amongst rubble.
I don’t want my home or my soul to be destroyed because of greed and discontentment like Madame Blueberry. I want to live with a thankful heart!
As we move into this Thanksgiving and Christmas season, let us recall that song sung by an animated vegetable and find things to thank God for everyday. It can be as simple as the sun shining overhead or the piece of dessert we are about to eat, or as big as a new job or house. Either way, whether big or small, there is always, always something to be thankful for!
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
~ Phillippians 4:11-12
