There’s hardly a day that passes that I don’t stop and thank the Lord for the gift of my home. You see, I prayed for ten years that the Lord would provide a house that was our own; one that would allow us to serve Him as we served others, where we could hold lots of people, and also a home in which we could build some equity. Now, here we are! It’s such a blessing because we waited what seemed to be a fairly long time. It’s God’s wonderful gift to us, and we are so thankful!  I can also say,  it was worth the wait!

As parents who want to build thankfulness in their child’s heart, I believe it’s wise to follow our heavenly Father’s example and sometimes let our child wait to receive the thing that they’re desiring. Our society today has the attitude of, “I-must-have-it-now!”. We’re not willing to wait for a hamburger, much less a pair of jeans or a car!

Proverbs 13:19 says, “The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.”

It’s a greater blessing and causes greater gratitude when we have to wait for something. A child will be more thankful for a toy, the bike or the new outfit if they’ve

So, even if you have the means to grant every desire of your child’s, if you want them to learn to be really thankful, apply the principle of Waiting makes you more thankful, and you will be helping your child to develop a grateful heart!

What do you have from the Lord that you had to wait for?

With love,

I recently read a story about a man who rescued many people from a freezing lake after their ship had suffered a puncture.  He dove in the icy waters again and again, rescuing victim after victim.  His heroic efforts cost him his own health, forcing him to use a wheel chair for most of his life after the rescues.  Years later, someone asked him what he remembered most about that time.  “Not one person thanked me for saving them.”

My jaw dropped when I read that!  I would imagine that any person would be so overwhelmed with gratitude that they would tell him how grateful they were!  It reminded me of the ten lepers Jesus healed, and that only one returned to give thanks.

It makes me take a look at my own life and wonder if I have gratitude for all God has done for me.  As parents, don’t we desire that our children are thankful?  We say things to them like,

“Tell the nice man thank you for the sticker.”

“What do you say for the candy?”

“Say thank you to your sister for sharing her toys with you.”

We say these things in hopes that they’ll develop  gratitude, but how do we create in them a thankful heart?  Let me suggest:

Let’s have thankful hearts that our children can emulate.  As followers of Jesus, we were saved from far more than icy waters, and we should have thankful spirits that are evident by our words and actions!

With thanks to you for reading today,