My husband and I were ready to celebrate. What? An anniversary? No, not that common. We wanted to celebrate the release of my two books, With Open Ears and Grateful Heart, and his recovery from spinal surgery. Our hearts were overflowing with gratitude for all that we had seen God do. So we chose our go-to place for special occasions, a restaurant with a lovely large tropical fish aquarium.
Why that restaurant? We like their food. It’s where we go. But our city is full of yummy food and special places. We chose this in particular because it was the scene of my inspiration for my book, Grateful Heart.
It was the large aquarium that drew me to a new understanding of how to give thanks in all things. And with the permission of my publisher, I want to share that chapter with you.
Aquariums
How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; The earth is full of your creatures. (Psalm 104:24)
As my husband paid the bill for my birthday dinner, I wandered into the restaurant’s empty foyer and discovered a large fish tank filled with tropical fish. When Jack joined me, I pointed to the aquarium.
Rather than being entranced by the contents of such a large tank in a southern Arizona restaurant where I could stand nose to nose with the brightly colored fish, I blurted a rather ungrateful, ”I so wish we’d visited Shedd Aquarium when we lived in Illinois.”
My desire was real and long entrenched. Having grown up in the Southwest desert, I saw ocean life as exotic and fascinating. Before my better-than-ever surgery, a disastrous visit to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, where crowds and a cranky docent kept me from getting close enough to see the sea life in the tank, left me craving another chance. When we moved to Illinois, the famed Shedd Aquarium was a delightful three-hour train ride from our home. But in 10 years of living there, we never went. A dream unfulfilled. Now we lived once again in the Southwest, and my dream dried up as fast as monsoon moisture on a hot summer day.
Yet here was a fish tank. No one else was in the restaurant foyer. My loving Heavenly Father held out an exclusive invitation for me to enjoy what I had always wanted to see, up close, no less. With a bit of embarrassment and a bit more remorse, I chose to embrace gratitude for what was before me rather than pining for what I had left behind.
Our human brains are experts at linking present experiences to past memories and desires. And Satan is a master at luring us into ingratitude by whispering in our ear, “Remember what you could have had?”
Manna Mishap
The nation of Israel had that problem. We see it in Numbers 11:1-8.
Manna was a kind of grain God miraculously sprinkled on the desert ground to feed the Israelites. Anything tastes good when you’re hungry. But after months of manna, the novelty wore off. The people had a case of selective memory. They remembered the good food of Egypt: the fish, cucumbers, leeks, and melons. Somehow, they forgot the very real brutality of their past slavery. They discounted the glory of the Lord that resided with them every day. And they ignored the miracle of manna, a gift that appeared morning after morning without fail from a merciful God.
God had done all kinds of fantastic, incredible miracles for them that generations after them would remember and praise., and all they could think about were fish and cucumbers.
Back in the restaurant
I peered closer at the fish tank and whispered an apology to my Lord God. He had poured life into sea creatures, whether they lived in a nationally known aquarium, the depths of the ocean, or a simple fish tank in the desert Southwest. Their design was beautiful, colorful, intricate, and complex. Desert dwellers not so many generations before me never had the chance to see tropical fish. I and anyone else living in landlocked vocations are privileged that we get to see them at all.
When we pine for the past and long for lost opportunities, we show a careless disregard for the gifts God puts within our present moments. The tropical fish breathed a thank you! prompt to me. The next time the words, “I wish I could have” form in my mouth, I need to mold those words into thanks for what I have in front of me.
Look around your day. What gifts has God given you? Turn Satan’s weapon of selective memory against him. Use the link of the past to ricochet to the present and thank God for what you have today.
Taken from Grateful Heart, © 2025 by Karen A. Wingate. Used by permission of Our Daily Bread Publishing. Further distribution is prohibited without permission from Our Daily Bread Publishing.
Think of five blessings God has given to you today. Why not take a moment right and thank God for what you see in front of you.
More from Grateful Heart
Grateful Heart: 60 Reasons to Give Thanks in All Things invites you to discover a renewed sense of gratitude, no matter how complicated your life might become. As you read Karen Wingate’s latest book, you’ll find out for yourself that “life is stuffed with more gratitude prompts than you can fit inside a twenty-four pound Thanksgiving turkey.” You just have to look for them.
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