Is an attitude of thankfulness something that comes naturally to us?  Do we need to be taught to live with an attitude of gratitude? Does it depend on circumstances?  Does it depend on our belief system?

What I do know is that scripture teaches us to give thanks in all circumstances… and that this can provide peace beyond our understanding, Philippians 4:7.  And,  Thessalonians 5:18 challenges us: “Give thanks is all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

One of the beautiful books I was given in this past year of grieving (thank you, Gigi!) was Ann Voskamp’s The Broken Way.  Honestly, half of the book is underlined with words that spoke life and hope into my heart.   One of my favorite ah-hah moments came from her words on p 24:   “…maybe you can live a full and beautiful life in spite of the great and terrible moments that will happen right inside of you.  Actually, maybe you get to become more abundant because of the moments….broken open…..broken free.  Maybe the deepest wounds birth deepest wisdom…. God does great things through the greatly wounded…..” –  Then, words from her husband to Ann herself on the next page, “Never be afraid of being a broken thing.”

Ann Voskamp LEARNED and CHOOSE to be thankful and to express gratitude, and then this led her to find God in the ordinary but beautiful moments of life, no matter what the circumstances.  I spent a lot of time on the road last year and decided that as I drove, I would listen to praise music and praise God, instead of focusing on my many changing emotions.  We can consider this a dare to look beyond ourselves….and to trust in His provision, no matter.

Our kiddoes experience all kinds of emotions too; toddlers navigate how to respond appropriately, preschoolers learn now to cooperate and share, and then kids in school have to figure out how to respond to new information and various personalities!  This learning “how to LIVE” never really changes, right?   So, this is my thought:  we may need to lead our littles in living with an attitude of gratitude, despite their circumstances. 

Of course, we can read books about thankfulness and about the first Thanksgiving, we can give thanks in our prayers, and we can model this in our own attitudes. I just ordered a children’s book for preschoolers, The First Thanksgiving of 1621 by Matthew Cullen.  I thought this could be a history lesson for the boys, a reminder for me about how the first settlers gave thanks amidst such difficult circumstances, and also be a segway into THANKFULNESS itself.

Our kids are going to have natural (and big) reactions to difficult circumstances, to change, and to challenging personalities….and as parents/grandparents we may need to present a different reaction, a different perspective, one that leads to understanding and empathy.   My initial thought is that this does need to be tenderly taught and intentionally modeled. And honestly, I could use the reminder myself.   As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches and we BOOK TIME WITH OUR KIDS,  let’s consider modeling and teaching this attitude of gratitude to our littles.  Who among us couldn’t use a bit of this “peace beyond our understanding”?

Brandon Lake, Gratitude

(I listened to this a couple hundred times 😊

Thanks for reading and please share!