An Attitude of Gratitude

photo Credit: Creative Commons with limited editing done by Dayna Bickham

Thankfully 

This is how I want to live my life: thankfully. In active gratitude. I told you yesterday that entitlement is dangerous. I believe it is and this is why: because entitlement forgets grace. 

Grace is God's love at work in our lives. When we forget this grace, when we ignore God's hand in our day-to-day lives, we run the risk of living with an attitude of entitlement rather than an attitude of gratitude. We take God for granted and forget there is no reason except His love for His favor in our lives. 

So as you read this are you nodding your head in agreement? 

Good. 

Now here is the challenge: 

Examine yourself. 

Where can you show more gratitude and less attitude? Toward your husband? Toward your Mother-in-law? What about your boss, who probably isn't saved so they don't "get it". 

If I were to hazard a guess, I would say there is at least one area you could use more gratitude in. Do you know why? Because, we all fall short somewhere. 

I am preaching to the choir, believe me. 

So this is what I want you to do, and I am going to do the same and share my results with you. Today we need to find three things we are thankful for. Small, medium or large, these things are something you are willing to share and give a brief explanation why you are grateful for them. 

I will go first. 

My List

1. I am grateful for my kids. 

    As much as I complain about parenting, my kids are the greatest gift (outside of salvation) that God has

    ever given me. They bring me more joy than heartache and that is what I need to remember when things

    get tough. 

2. I am grateful for early mornings. 

    This is when I get time to read and pray. I get ideas for this blog, I write, I even just sit back and listen to 

    praise and worship music. These quiet times are rare and I have to discipline myself to get up, but they are

    worth the effort, every time. 

3. I am grateful for you. 

    I write because I am called to, but I am glad I have you to share this blog with. You pray with me, laugh

   with me, cry with me, and cringe with me. You make the job of writing more than a chore, you make it an

   adventure! In you I see God's favor and increase. You are like His little kisses to me. Thank you for 

   showing up everyday and thank you for sticking it out with me through all my hiccups and growing pains as 

   as a blogger. 

 

Join the Conversation: 

Now it is your turn. What are you grateful for and why? 

Like what you read here?  More great content is available several times a week, but I understand how busy you are. That is why I offer a free newsletter that sends you an email of the same great content straight to your inbox! You won't have to worry about missing a thing. I will never share your information with anyone, and if you sign up today, you can get a free copy of my children's eBook The Gardener and the Sapling: A Modern Parable. Click the link below and subscribe now!

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My Failure as A Parent: The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

Sometimes being a parent is not fun. 

There are moments, like last night, that I want to run screaming from the building pulling out my hair along the way.

My kids can be demanding, they can be obstinate, and they can be difficult.

They are, after all, part of my gene pool.

My dad always said grandchildren would be his revenge. I get what he meant now.

The fight between my youngest was over something insignificant. I could not care less about the "thing" she wanted. Her attitude was what affected me the most. She thought she deserved an equal amount of something. She had a right to that thing, and somehow her "rights" were being ignored.

My anger flared, because I know just how wrong she was. Not because I am always right, but because I have been in the same place as her and I know how important it is for her to "get it".

She felt entitled. This entitlement attitude is dangerous and one we have not tried to cultivate, but somehow my children have developed.

This got me thinking....

How often do we come at God like this?

We are His children. His kids can be demanding, obstinate and difficult.  They are, after all, part of the fallen world and like their father Adam.

How often have we heard, "I am mad at God?" or "God doesn't hear my prayers" or "If God loved me, He wouldn't have let my wife die."  Similar statements have been uttered countless times in countless variations.

These come from a place of entitlement. Entitlement is dangerous.

Entitlement says "I have the right to be given something".

The Nature of Gifts

Before we were in Christ we were dead.

The dead have no rights.

Everything we receive from God at this point (while dead) is a gift. Then when we come to know the saving grace of God through Christ we are alive, but since we are bought with a price, we are not our own and we still have no rights. Everything we have is still a gift.

For our gifts we should be thankful. Gratitude is a skill. It is not an easy one to learn. Why? Because you can not be grateful and humble at the same time. It is a lesson God is teaching me through my children right now.

I guess my heart is being checked, and it has come up short. If I could rip it out of my chest and wash it under a waterfall I would, but even that would not be clean enough for my God. He deserves the best me. Thankfully, He provided the remedy.

He washes me white as snow. He examines my heart, and if there is a spot or a wrinkle, He washes me again with His love and Word.

He corrects His children because He loves us.

This Too Shall Pass

I will survive the latest uproar with my kids.

I will also endeavor to teach them this lesson: First, we are not owed anything, and second to be grateful for what we have with a humble heart.

I will also press in so that my Father can show me where I fall short, and pray that I have a contrite heart along the way.

Thank You

Thank you for letting me rant. You let me drag my pain and rawness out in front of you. My life is not pretty in these moments and it is made up of more of these moments than you know. Writing this story down and sharing it with you has let me work through it. It has helped remind me of all the times when I have "got it" and how God has changed me in the process.

My hope is that by sharing, you can be changed too. I am praying for you. Please pray for me.

Join the Conversation

Does God use your kids to talk to you?


Like what you read here?  More great content is available several times a week, but I understand how busy you are. That is why I offer a free newsletter that sends you an email of the same great content straight to your inbox! You won't have to worry about missing a thing. I will never share your information with anyone, and if you sign up today, you can get a free copy of my children's eBook The Gardener and the Sapling: A Modern Parable. Click the link below and subscribe now!

Subscribe to our newsletter