posted by Jessica Lynette on 12 Habits

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I have been encouraged with our focus on developing the habit of thankfulness through this month. There is much joy in the home when there is thankfulness in the hearts and spending focused time and prayer cultivating thankfulness has impressed upon me the importance – the need – for parents and children to be thankful.

We had a rough week this past week; several major things broke down and will require costly repairs, three trays of cookies intended for our neighbors burned {ironically, to say “thanks for being our neighbor”}, we were sick and several other little things happened – all which served to remind me how desperately we need to cultivate thankfulness.

It is easy to be thankful when someone hands you a beautiful package full of delightful gifts, or when all the traffic lights are green when you’re running late or when your husband makes you the perfect cup of coffee; complete with cinnamon and frothy milk.

But when situations become hard, when the tasks become mundane, when things break down are we then still thankful?

Those challenging times do not immediately inspire feelings of thanks – in fact in my own life I am more prone to blame, get upset or complain in the face of a challenge than I am to stop and give thanks.

But if giving thanks or having an attitude of thankfulness was my response rather than complaining there would be such peacefulness in my life and home and my children would have a much easier time being thankful in all things.

I am thankful that I saw this modeled well in my mother. She had polio as a child and through my early teens suffered several different broken bones as a result of falling. It wasn’t that she was thankful for falling or thankful for another trip to the hospital or another round of physio therapy. But through out her life she had cultivated an attitude of thankfulness that when met with those trials she accepted them with grace and without bitterness or complaint.

It has been an encouragement to me over the years to have had that example and convicting to me as what ideas I will leave my own children with when they think of being thankful.

I want them to see that being a thankful person isn’t something that changes with circumstances. It is a matter of choosing “to give thanks in all things” {1 Thess 5:18}.

As we go forward this week, whether or not you are following along with the monthly habits, I would encourage you to reflect on examples in your life that have exemplified thankfulness and if you cannot think of an example consider becoming that person so that others may look at you and be encouraged.

Sharing on;
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Tags: intentional habit building for kids, January - thankfulness