Every November it happens.

Blog posts shared with ideas for Thanksgiving.  Pinterest boards filled up with crafty ideas and creative ways to give thanks.  Magazine articles about teaching your children about gratitude.  Facebook posts about what we’re thankful for.

And every November, I think the same thing.

“Why do we only focus on saying thanks for our blessings once each year?”

Now, obviously, we can’t have a traditional Thanksgiving Day celebration each and every day…my waistline might not do so well with that!

But what if we could have Thanksgiving in our hearts all year round?

How would that affect us?  Would our lives be changed?

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I’ve always considered myself *somewhat* like Eeyore (you know, from Winnie-the-Pooh?!!).  Without help from up above, I just naturally tend to be a little melancholy…a little glass-half-empty…a little o, woe is me-ish.

But over the past ten years, God has allowed various experiences into my life to teach me and shape me.   Through trials and struggles, He has taught me a huge lesson:

A heart of thanksgiving is not dependent upon circumstances.

 

I’m learning to give thanks in all things–the big things and the small things, the easy things and the hard things.

I’m also learning that Thanksgiving must be practiced daily.  In fact, I think it is a habit you must intentionally cultivate in your life.  So, even if you are like me (Eeyore-like!), you can make a choice every single day to find ways to give thanks.

I love what J.R. Miller says:   “Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit—before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.”

And so it is with us AND with our children.  We must train our children and make gratitude a habit in their lives.  I’m so passionate about it, because I can look around and see what happens when our children are ungrateful.

Entitlement.  Selfishness.  Disrespect.

That’s why I felt led to write my first “real” eBook, Thanksgiving Heart:  Cultivating Gratitude in Young Children All Year Round.

Not because I’m perfect…or my kids are perfect…or I’m an expert, but because I’ve learned a few things over the years.  Because I’m slowly putting one foot in front of the other and attempting to live out my faith.  Because I really want to see families and hearts and lives changed.

I invite you to join me in intentionally cultivating habits of gratitude in our children.  I would absolutely love to hear about people reading the book and implementing the ideas with their own children!  I pray you’ll pick and choose from the practical ideas in the eBook, make them a habit, and see how God will use them to transform the life of your family.

 

Thanksgiving Heart:  Cultivating Gratitude in Young Children All Year Round is an eBook filled with simple illustrations, practical ideas for training children to give thanks, and encouragement for the journey.

I’ve also worked with my sister to come up with some beautiful, useful printables:

• A Gratitude Journal
• Thank You Card
• Incentive Chart
• 30-Day Scripture Reading & Activity Guide

Thanksgiving Heart:  Cultivating Gratitude in Young Children All Year Round is available as a PDF download or on Amazon for just $2.99.