My wife and I are watching a lot of Survivorman on the Science Channel.

Yes, we love Survivor on CBS too. But lately, it’s been a lot more Survivorman than Survivor.

Anywho. This guy Les Stroud always has us cracking up. We love how he takes such pleasure in eating worms, grubs, blades of grass, and the occasional scorpion. Then as he eats these “delicacies” you’d think he was putting a savory T-Bone steak in his mouth. Amazing how your environment can affect your appetite.

This one particular episode, Les is North of the Arctic Circle. Surrounded by white for 48 hours straight, he describes how he can’t even distinguish between the white snow and the white clouds and white sky above him. Color has been eliminated from his world.

Les talks about “Snow Blindedness” that leads some to hallucinate and imagine even small rocks as large mountains.

Finally, after days surrounded by white, Les happens upon a small patch of brown dirt and grass. Falling on the new territory, back to the ground, with a grin from ear to ear he declares, “Ahhh, this is awesome.”

I have seen many a dirt and brown grass patches in my life. In New England for 8 months out of the year you can see brown grass and dirt almost anywhere. I have rarely declared it to be “awesome” in anyway. But Les, having been surrounded by a colorless reality for days led him to rejoice at the site of something I often take for granted.

It tells me very simply. There’s always something to Praise God for. Something you can rejoice in. Maybe the brown days of April have you in a brown haze of reality.

Maybe the cold and wind has you wishing for sun and surf. Maybe you’ve let yourself get “Snow Blinded” by all the white of this past winter and the color of God’s creative goodness is nowhere to be seen. If you don’t find something to thank God for, it may become a chronic condition rather than a passing season.

Right now, where you are, as you are, with what you have, I challenge you to name 3 things you can praise God for.

Yesterday at the park I was having my children run laps and race each other. It was so precious to see their little legs churning, their arms swinging, and their elbows kicking out as they ran in semi-straight lines from Dad to the tree and back. And I praised God for three things. A park where I’m free to spend time with my family, the working legs and arms on my two kids that look so adorable when they run, and a beautiful simple day of color in the middle of a brown grass covered and dirt textured world.

Blessings.