A man and a woman are chatting over dinner. The woman says, “John, are we ever gonna get married?” The man obviously doesn’t want to answer the question. He stutters a little and replies, “Umm, thank you.” It works! The woman is so pleased to hear these two words that she forgets all about her anxious question! Indeed, there is something very powerful behind those two simple words, ‘thank you;’ and we can’t hear them enough. Somehow it instantly brings people closer, even if they don’t yet want to take the plunge! As we will see in today’s sermon, those two magic words not only bring us closer together, but they first bring us closer to God and into his powerful blessing.  For this reason, learning how to live a life of thanksgiving may just be the most important and joyful spiritual discipline we are challenged to learn in this life.