Tuesday

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

I can't think of another attribute I'd like to develop in my children more than thankfulness. 

Nothing makes me heart smile like an unprompted 'thank you' or an uninhibited burst of gratitude.

I believe thankfulness is the mark of a great person. A grateful heart does not complain or compare. A grateful heart does not grumble or gripe. A grateful heart is a beautiful thing.

And it is rare.

I want to teach my kids to be thankful. I want them to see the good in their lives as blessings. I want their perspective to mirror their grateful hearts.

I want them to see gratitude in me. 

Here are five thankful actions I'm trying to put into practice:

  • Serve It-In our every day lives, my hubby and I try to make service a normal part of our routine. We ask our kids to help each other out as a way of serving one another. We have also recently implemented acts of service towards others (One Day to Give). There is a new excitement in our home about serving others. My kids have innovative ideas and together, we are working on servitude. 

  • Say It-I think one of the best ways we can show gratitude is with our words. Saying thank you at restaurants, to teachers, clergy, neighbors and friends is crucial. Our kids are taking their cues from us. And sometimes the people in our own homes have the most un-thankless jobs. I'm aiming to thank my hubby every time he takes out the trash or lends an extra hand around the house. Kids need to be verbally thanked too.

  • Sacrifice It-In our society, we don't hear much about sacrifice. It's not popular to give something up. But it's still a valuable lesson to teach our children. I think true gratitude is born in sacrifice. Seeing others needs as greater than our own is what thankfulness is all about.

  • Show It-Sometimes the best way to show gratitude is through tangible means: a hand-written note, a gift from the heart or a thank you note for a birthday gift. These simple acts sometimes get lost in our high tech world.

  • Search for it-Life isn't always easy. And during difficult times, it's easy to focus on the negative. It's during these moments, we have to look for the silver-lining in life's trials. Perspective often changes our attitude. I try to remind my kids that they are blessed.

Food for the Soul:
Philippians 4:6  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

For more great tips, visit Works for Me Wednesday.

13 comments:

Storytellin' Mama said...

Great ideas for acting and showing thankfulness!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope it is a great family day!

Poof said...

It's so difficult in this fast-paced world to focus on these things! Thanks for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

The serving and sacrificing ones have really been on my heart lately too. And the blogosphere has really helped support that, which is just ultra-cool. :) Your one day to give, had me thinking about it for weeks and it was the strangest thing that I had a hard time finding someone to do something nice for. I wanted to buy a homeless man a coffee and I couldn't. Weird story. It was much harder than I thought it would be. And it is good to keep looking for those opportunities to give.

Happy THanksgiving!
Cathy

Unknown said...

A great post, thanks for sharing, Happy THanksgiving to you and your family!!

Anonymous said...

Great thoughts! I want to instill a heart of thankfulness in my children as well. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Unknown said...

Fantastic! Excellent things to work on - thanks for sharing.

~gail~mooselovingmamabear said...

Great thoughts...thanks for sharing and have a Happy Thanksgiving...

Unknown said...

Super thoughts - thanks for sharing.

Tammy said...

Such a great reminder to us all and helping raise responsible members of our future society!

Have a blessed week.

Anonymous said...

Well said...good thoughts. I too am working on instilling an attitude of thankfulness in my children. It is sad how truly over looked this holiday is in our society...everyone just rushes past it for Christmas and not the real meaning of Christmas but the commercialism. Stores are itching to get you focused on what you want and what you want to buy as soon as they can and if we aren't intentional, the true spirit of thanksgiving can be lost on us all.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful post! Thank you!

Kristin said...

These are all so important - I think especially the sacrifice part. It's so important that we model giving to children, and find ways to involve them in it. It's impossible to have a truly thankful heart if we hold on too tightly to what God's given us.

Lori said...

You've coined some perfect terms for teaching our kids to be kind and thankful - thanks for sharing! Hope that you had a wonderful day.