Grit and Grace by Suzanne Hadley Gosselin

Author:Suzanne Hadley Gosselin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736976251
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

Lord, thank You that my children are fearfully and wonderfully made. Help me appreciate who You have made them to be and guide them into the specific callings You have placed on their lives. Help me love them even when they fail to meet my expectations. Help me accept them the way You accept me. Amen.

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Gaining Gratitude

Gretta

I started the thankful leaves our second November in Canada. Koen was not yet two and had a total of three words in his repertoire so he didn’t participate, but the other kids fully embraced it. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October, and though the traditional meal and the focus on thankfulness are the same as it is in the States, it’s not nearly as big of a holiday as it is for Americans. When we moved to Canada, I informed Jay that we would always celebrate American Thanksgiving as well, and the “thankful leaves” were my attempt at making the holiday special for the kids.

I cut out construction paper leaves, and every day I’d ask Kaia and Titus what they were thankful for. Words like bunny and taggie (their most special possessions) came out, so that’s what I wrote down on their leaves. They also came up with people’s names, and all sorts of seemingly random items—snakes, hot dogs, clouds, slides—are also included in the leaves. Throughout the month we added daily our thanks and then taped the leaves all over the windows. As they grew, they drew pictures and eventually wrote their own messages. We repeat this tradition every year, and I save the leaves from year to year, eager each November to pull them out again and reread the messages.

When we practice gratefulness, we’re trading complaints for thanks. We give up sorrow for joy. And we recognize our blessings instead of our burdens.

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude can be difficult, but it’s worth the hard work. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Admittedly, it’s harder than it looks. When the kids are crying and won’t share their space, I struggle being thankful. When I spend an hour of my precious time cooking dinner only to have everyone turn their nose up at it, gratitude is not the first emotion I experience. I’m pretty sure annoyance and frustration are my initial go-tos when it comes to situations like these. I prefer my life to be beautifully pleasant. You know, everyone getting along, getting enough sleep to easily manage my day, a kitchen with no dirty dishes, and a house that cleans itself. That certainly can’t be too much to ask, can it? I’m sure it would be easy to be thankful then, right?

But that’s not what Paul tells us. He doesn’t say, “Be thankful when everything is going your way.” He also doesn’t say, “Be thankful when you are happy.” Paul has the audacity to tell you and me to be thankful in every circumstance. That

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