Just say, "Thank-you." -

I can’t remember the source of the title of this post. I think it’s from an old movie. My husband and I use the phrase often. If one or another receives a compliment and bumbles for an appropriate response, if one of our dear children blesses us with a less than desirable token of his love, or sometimes just for fun and because it seems to fit.

Just say, “Thank-you.”

I was reminded of this line today when my husband brought me a lovely cup of freshly brewed coffee.

I had already reheated and enjoyed the last of yesterday’s coffee, so I didn’t necessarily need more. But I can always drink more coffee.

But the part that really sticks out in my head is that I also thought, “Oh, and he got a second cup dirty, too.”

It’s so easy to slip into such attitudes of ingratitude. It’s very common to criticize the way things are done rather than to see the effort and heart that goes into the doing.

Sometimes this can lead to a spirit of discontent or even strife in a home.

Taking a reference from another movie, “I’m not high maintenance. I just want things the way I want them.”

As homemakers, we often want things the way we want them. We think things like, “It shouldn’t be too much to ask …” or, “I told you to do it this way.” or simply, “Grrrrr.”

Sometimes we shroud such attitudes in psycho-babble-ic niceties, “Would you mind trying to … ” or, “I know I’m not perfect either, but, … ” or, “Maybe if we could put the … ”

But sometimes what we really need to do is just say, “Thank-you.”

And mean it.