Skipping with gratitude

Today, when I picked my 6 year old up from school, he literally skipped to the car. He was happy, bubbling over with stories of his day (“I have lots to tell you mummy!). But there are other days, rare days fortunately, but days when shoulders are somewhat slumped, and the day wasn’t so great. Days when a fall occurred, or someone was perhaps not so nice to him. Days when he needs a bit of comfort and a lot of encouragement. Days when his indignation of how he was treated needs to be heard.

I received an email with tips for parents. The title being “teaching kids to focus on the positive”. In the email it said when your children “build the habit of focusing on what’s good and positive about their interactions with others, they will have lots of pleasant experiences to draw from to cushion the impact of any unfriendliness or bullying they may face.” The article was giving solutions and keys to helping your child through bullying, but as I read it, I realised there was a principle here that is good to apply to our lives as well.

We need to be intentional about noticing the good in our days. And there is always some good, although some days it may be a little harder to find than others. We need to build up a repertoire of what God has done for us, and that means intentionally remembering. This means that when the hard and challenging times come and the enemy seeks to undermine our faith we have an arsenal of testimonies, of blessings to counter it. When we focus on our blessings it is easier to keep our problems in the right perspective.

“Gratitude is the memory of the heart”. It brings contentment to our lives, and greater intimacy with God, and that is certainly something to skip about.