We are upon the season when many of us strive to be grateful for all God has done for us. But gratefulness is something we should have in our hearts all year long, not just for a holiday. It is something that should be natural to us, something always on our lips.
It is hard to teach our children gratefulness when we are ungrateful. Strive to be grateful yourself. Like a smile, it is contagious.
Have you ever asked someone what they are thankful for but you only get a generic answer? Of course we should be thankful for our family, friends and food -the typical answers- but we need to be thankful for all things. Even the mundane.
I have often complained about my lion’s mane of hair. Hair that doesn’t want to be tamed no matter how much product I add to it or how much time I spend on it. Then one day God showed me that even though my hair is hard to manage, I have hair. There are so many wonderful people who are fighting health issues like cancer and have lost their hair. But I still have mine. So I praise Him for my natural frizzy hair.
Doing dishes is a chore I greatly dislike. I hate the dry, dishpan hands and it hurts back to stand at the sink for so long. I can complain and complain day and night over this tedious chore. But praise God I have food to dirty those dishes with. There are so many out there starving, literally starving. But I have food.
We can praise God for the gas in our cars that get us from place to place. The hot water to shower with. The laundry to wash because we have clothes. Even the homework we have to do because we know that it is helping us in our future. We can praise God in all things. Once I heard someone say, what if we woke up tomorrow with only the things we thanked God for today? What if that did happen? Did you forget to praise Him for something today?
Another way to teach your daughter gratefulness is to ask her what she is thankful for. Ask her to use her five senses and think of something she tasted, heard, touched, saw and felt that she can praise God for. The more we ask what they praise God for, the more it becomes natural for them.
Help your daughter become grateful all year long.
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