Forever Grateful

I Samuel 12:24

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what the great things he has done for you.

What road will we take today?

Let’s go!

All of us would want to raise children who appreciate what they have; have a very healthy disposition about material possessions; show responsibility for what they have; are kind to others and think about others, not just self-gratification. Here are a few steps we could take.

1. Help our children to recognize the great things that God has done for:
   1. Them
   2. Their family
   3. Their community
   4. Their parish /state
   5. Their country
2. Help them to develop a culture of gratitude or the culture of an attitude of gratitude. Joyce Meyers says, “There’s no happy person than a truly grateful person.”

Ways to culture an Attitude of Gratitude in Children

1. Start as a family unit and each day express thankfulness for something done to you or them by friends, family members, students, classmates, co-workers, government, etc. have the children participate by following you modeling an attitude of gratitude.
2. Get active! A gratitude board or journal could be kept. Help the children to jot down specific things they want to give thanks for. “When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect towards others.” Dalai Lama
3. Make a list of all the persons you are grateful for.
4. Write thank you notes. I’m not into children having cell phones until they are 18 years but if you do, download the Quotes Creator App and have them create and send thank you notes to people on the list created above.
5. Make them industrious. Give children chores at home. This can stimulate a sense of ownership in the home and the family. Being in charge of something is a big deal. As tasks are accomplished, do not forget to compliment the children.
6. How about adding some craft fun of gratitude? Children’s creativity can be engaged in this process. They could do handmade thank-you cards, paintings, sewing, poetry, songs, stories, games and more. This can be developed into a hobby or a booming business.
7. Include sentence prayers of gratitude daily.

The picture above was done by my son as his interpretation of the Affirm Me Day 2 posts. Enjoy. Feel free to share it with your children. He blogs at artsportandmusic.blogspot.com

Have a beautiful May 3rd. See you tomorrow.