Practice Gratitude
Thankfulness… Gratefulness…
This time of year has many of us thinking about these two words. But what do they really mean to you and your family?
When I take the time to reflect on these words, I realize that they shift my focus. I find myself framing things in a more positive light and appreciating what I already have in my life. It is humbling to consider how much I already have instead of focusing on things that I wish for.
This article is written by Karissa Tunis
For more on this topic, check out the full Celebrate Thanksgiving collection
It is a helpful exercise to contemplate what you are deeply thankful for. Those things that you take for granted, but that bring you joy and fulfillment on a regular basis… My children, my family, my friends, feeling safe and secure in our own home, food on the table, clothes on our backs. The basics! Those simple things matter, and taking the time to appreciate them can bring us peace and appreciation – especially during a busy season of life.
And beyond those basics? Anything additional is really an added bonus!
Of course, I enjoy nice home decor, beautiful jewelry, and fancy dinners as much as the next person; but I certainly do not need them. They are a luxury that should be appreciated rather than taken for granted.
Get outside our own bubble
When we remove ourselves from our own bubbles, we remember that most of the world does not live like we do. Many people throughout the world get by with very little, and they still manage to live happy and fulfilling lives. Some of us (myself included) may have experienced firsthand the challenges of just scraping by, and it’s important to reflect on those experiences from time to time.
One of the best things we can do for our kids is to teach them to practice gratitude.
We can start teaching this valuable life lesson at a young age, and we can engrain this important life lesson in our kids from the beginning. If we all believed that life is a gift in and of itself, and the rest is just a bonus, our world could be a very different place!
Feeling grateful is the antidote to feeling entitled. And that’s something that we could all use a little dose of from time to time.
A Life Changing Experience
When I was 16 years old, I took a missions trip to Romania with a team of people from my church’s youth group. During our few days of travel, our plans changed, and suddenly we found ourselves living, not visiting – but actually living with children who were looked down on as some of the lowest in their society. We were at an orphanage. From first glance you would have thought it was a mix of young boys and girls, but we quickly discovered they were all girls up to about age 16.
We spent several mornings picking up the broken glass bottles from the yard that the drunks had tossed over the fence the night prior. We shared their meals of very little and unappealing simple food. And we used a hole in the ground for a toilet, took our cold showers as quick as possible, and played outside with only the toys we had brought them. It was very hard to keep composure at all times, and to not have a decent hotel room to go back to at night and regroup was emotionally difficult. We were there completely living in it 100%.
True Selflessness Through a Teddy Bear
These children were at first very shy and insecure. But they had hearts of gold! They quickly took to us, and eventually offered us their only possession – a teddy bear that someone had donated over a year prior. We of course could not accept their sweet gesture, but it stuck with all of us. Here were children with absolutely nothing, and their greatest gift – this teddy bear (many still in their original wrappers) were being offered to us! How incredibly selfless these kids were, and how grateful they were that we came and cared.
Practice Gratitude for Simple Things
One day we decided to take the children into town to McDonald’s for a happy meal. The whole outing was quite an ordeal, but we eventually made it. These children had never been on a school bus before, never traveled into the city, and most definitely had never enjoyed McDonald’s.
While sitting across from two of the girls that were very malnourished, I watched as they cautiously opened their happy meal bags. First they pulled out their french fries, which to them looked very foreign. But before either of them even took a bite, they offered one to me. I politely declined and encouraged them to try it. They both ate their fries between giggles. Once finished, they rolled up their bags to save their burgers for later.
Inside I was crying for them. The more nice things we tried to do for these children, the harder it became. I ended up using a translator to explain that the cheeseburgers would not last forever so they should go ahead and enjoy them now.
My trip was filled with many more moments like this. To us it’s something that is so simple, and yet often taken very much for granted. But to these girls, it was probably an experience they will always remember. And it will always remind me to practice gratitude myself.
Returning Back Home
Our hearts broke when we had to say good-bye at the end of our trip.
Returning home was not easy. Coming back to the United States with such privilege left me feeling incredibly guilty! As I slowly transitioned back into my old life, things were very different. I felt so guilty taking a hot shower for the first time, so I turned the water cold instead. Sitting on a toilet made me emotional, and I started crying when I drove past McDonald’s.
Eventually I transitioned back to my normal routine, but I still often think back to that entire experience. If you have ever lived without necessities, then you realize just how important they really are! The rest is just a bonus.
Gratitude for my own children
When my children are old enough, I hope to take a family missions trip similar to the one I experienced. It’s one thing to tell my kids that a lot of children around the world do not get to experience what they do, but it’s a completely different experience to show them that first hand.
I recently read an article that stated the “#1 thing that you can do to ensure you raise a good child, is to teach them to be grateful.” – WOW!!
As I have taken some time to reflect on this statement, and my own life, I am finding that point very powerful! If we each believed that life is a gift and everything in it is truly a blessing, how different would our world be?
I am a huge believer in teaching children manners, and at the root of that is a lot of gratefulness. Using your pleases and thank you’s, respecting other people and their belongings, being humble and kind, it all ties into being thankful and grateful.
A challenge to practice gratitude
This holiday season, I encourage you to look for ways to teach your children the meaning behind these powerful attributes. While I don’t expect you to jump on a plane and head to a struggling country, I encourage you to look for inspirations around you.
Click here to read a list I compiled of simple things you can do to teach your children to pay their blessings forward, and/or to be grateful for what they already have.
For more on this topic, check out the full Celebrate Thanksgiving collection
