Picnic Baskets

Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 86: Today... I am grateful for the picnic basket. 

Life is not always a picnic, there is always sweetness found in a picnic basket.

The kids received a picnic basket at the bridal shower on Sunday. What a fun gift. I am not sure if it is something they registered for, but it was a real hit. I hope they never forget the simple joys found in a picnic and a picnic basket. 

This is a fast food world we live in. For my friends beyond our USA borders, it is a sickness here. We are always in a hurry to do more and we miss the goodness in taking the little extra time to prepare a meal and share it with community, in no-tech conversations and without distractions. 

Our kids grew up with the wonders of a potluck. On a potluck Sunday - they would see the picnic baskets lined up along they knew the meal would be fabulous. The children would suffer through Sunday School smelling the deliciousness from the ovens in the nearby kitchen. No matter how well the lesson was presented... the  aromas filling the basement fellowship hall were intoxicating. 

Two hours before the meal... two long hours. They survived... and even learned something along the way, but the sight of the picnic basket was the first promise of the feast ahead.

Their proposal story included a borrowed picnic basket and an evening watching a meteor shower for the entertainment. A picnic basket can suggest romance and says "I care enough to prepare". The gift of time is packed and unwrapped from the humble picnic basket.

The simplest of meals becomes a feast. Everything tastes a little better from the picnic basket. It has an uncomplicated charm that casts a spell of delight over all who partake from it's pleasures. 

King David... before he was king, would run food to his brothers who were in the army under King Saul's command. I imagine he has something akin to a picnic basket to carry the food. A soldier loves few things more than a food care package from home. Real men carry picnic baskets. 

There is a sense of "enough" in the basket meal. Enough to be satisfied. Enough to share. 

John 6 tells us of Jesus taking the picnic basket meal of a young boy and feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. 

 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. John 6:9-11

Jesus took time to offer thanksgiving to the Father. From that grace... the fish and bread were multiplied. There were 12 baskets of leftovers! Jesus instructed them to gather and save the leftovers. Good stewardship and the blessing of a leftover. 

Now... I know a miracle when I see one recorded. Yet, the act of gratitude for God's provision can not be ignored. Our God consistently turns what we have into enough when we seek his face with a grateful heart. 

He's a good, good Father. He is... and that's how he loves us. A little turns into enough and so much more. 

We tend to be clear on what we want, but He knows what we need. He longs for us to offer up gratitude so that he can know him better and see his hand in our tiniest blessings... not to mention the big ones.  

Today... I am grateful for the picnic basket.