Gratitude

Entitlement seems to be fast replacing gratitude in society today. We are taught to ask for our rights and snatch it if you don't get it. When we are enjoying our rights and privileges, we often forget that we have it and take it for granted. Our pastor was talking about teaching children to say grace before meals last Sunday. I'm not for starting what I deem as useless traditions but this one seemed to make sense. I complain about gratitude and things being taken for granted and here I was taking the fact that I didn't go hungry for granted.

So I set about trying to right my wrong. It was not going to be as easy as I thought. Saying thank you for the food was logical to me but not so to my children. Here are some of the comments I got on the first day -
S - Why are you starting this new pain before meals ?
Me - we need to be grateful for the meals we have and we are not going hungry like a lot of people.
M [who had been waiting for 2 hours for his food] - Yes. And I am one of them
S - Why do I need to be grateful for food I don't like?
S - Let me skip praying today so I can see how tomorrow is different for me from my brother.

You'd think I was telling them to climb Mount Everest and not say the 2 lines - "Bless us oh Lord and these Thy gifts, that we are about to receive, from Your bounty. We ask this through Christ our Lord".

So after 15 minutes of arguments we started the prayer after which S had a question on whether God was a pirate since bounty in Pirates of the Caribbean was loot.

I digress but you see what I am dealing with in my own home. It made me realise how important it is to take the time to TEACH gratitude. It doesn't seem to come magically like I thought it would. It would be a good idea to count your blessings and actually list it out so you know how lucky you are.

I'm grateful for

• Food
• Health
• hair on my head [i've been complaining about how it has thinned out ]
• Kids who drive me nuts [that is what gives me ammunition for when they have their own kids]
• Husband who lets me be me
• Home
• Friends
• Job with straightforward colleagues

 I could go on and on about these things that make my life better but I never pay attention to when I focus on what I don't have.

So bring a little gratitude in your attitude and experience the joy of feeling content.