Growing up in Tennessee, I heard my share of far-fetched fishing and hunting stories. One of my favorites was about two colorful characters, Clyde and Rufus. Both men would argue about who had the best hunting dog. One day, Clyde invited Rufus to go duck hunting, announcing that he had a new hunting dog and wanted to try him out.

As they sat in their boat with the new dog, a flock of ducks flew over. Rufus shot a duck that fell into the water about 100 yards away. Rufus offered to steer the boat over to the fallen duck, but Clyde said, "No! My dog will get the duck." The dog sprang from the boat, ran on top of the water, picked up the duck, and ran back to the boat on top of the water.

Clyde looked to see if Rufus was impressed with the dog. Rufus appeared unimpressed. Another duck was shot and retrieved in the same way. After several times of the dog fetching ducks and walking on water, Clyde couldn't stand it any longer. "Rufus, haven't you noticed anything different about my dog?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rufus replied. "Your dog can't swim."

Some people are like Rufus. They'd never acknowledge our accomplishments or gifts even if we walked on water. These people often make statements such as, "You should know that I appreciate what you do. You know I love you; I should not have to tell you." We all know people who brag about never complimenting others, as if not doing so is a virtue. Others resist giving praise because they see it as a tool of manipulation.

But in many of our relationships, there is a danger of taking others for granted. We assume that others know we appreciate what they do for us. The truth is that it is crucial to acknowledge what others do for us. We all want to know that what we do is of value to the other person. So it would be good to think of praise as acknowledging, valuing, encouraging, and showing gratitude.

When our boys were growing up, Karen and I wanted dinner time to be pleasurable. One of our after-dinner activities was to have one person in the family be the guest of honor. Then the rest of us took turns saying one or two things we appreciated about something the guest had done.
We shouldn't have to walk on water just to be acknowledged.