Teaching our Children to be Thankful

One of the things we started incorporating into your family times in the past year is a thankfulness journal. We got the idea from friends at The Master's Seminary (Justin and Juli McKitterick). Each week (usually Sunday evenings) we take the time to review the week and begin to list off things that we are thankful for. We usually begin with things that are spiritual in nature (ie salvation, God's grace, the cross of Christ, the Scriptures, etc...) This teaches our children that the greatest realities we are most thankful for are the many spiritual blessings given to us by God (Ephesians 1:3). From here we begin to express thanksgiving as it relates to our relationship with one another, and then we take the time to share material things that we are thankful for. This activity has helped our children see that true thankfulness begins with having a right perspective on the character of God first. I would encourage you to make it a goal that you might commit to this each week during the course of the next year, and see what the Lord does in the process.