Sometimes the most powerful way to cultivate gratitude in our children is by showing them the lives of others. We want our children to grow up being grateful for the blessings we have. Yet, our families often get caught up in our own little world in our own home. Then we focus on all the problems we think we have. In doing so, we forget about the challenges of other people, and sometimes lose our sense of gratitude for the simple blessings we have.
But if we are serious about our desire to cultivate gratitude in our children, we have to be intentional about making life about more than what happens in our own home. We also have to be intentional about exposing our children to what life is like for others in our community, country, and around the world.
A Trip That Opened My Eyes
Right after my senior year of high school, I traveled to Juarez, Mexico for a missions trip. My team spent a week working on service projects at an inner-city playground where a missionary had been ministering to the community for some time. We whitewashed old concrete, mixed and laid new cement, walked the streets together to invite children to the VBS we taught. We shared meals, laughter, play, and the love of Jesus.
One day we went to a different part of the city, the dumps. Children peeked from behind burlap curtains of their pallet houses. A mother bounced a baby in the doorway of a shack with only a tattered tarp for a roof. My eyes and heart saw how the beautiful people I met lived, how little they had, and how grateful they were for what little we brought that day. Smiles lighting their whole faces as they extended their hands accepting the grocery bags. Simple fair filled those bags- rice, beans, and some fresh fruit. Yet their eyes shined with gratitude. And “Gracias, gracias, gracias” poured profusely from their mouths as they hugged us.
The entire trip showed me how much I have to be grateful for, and how gratitude isn’t dependent upon my circumstances. We can cultivate gratitude in our children by giving them opportunities to see how others live. However, you don’t have to take a trip to show them. Some of the best opportunities for showing my children how much they have to be grateful for have come from within our own home and community. Those opportunities come when we, as the parents, choose to notice the needs of others around us and in turn, show our children those needs.
Opportunities to Show the Needs of Others
- Volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.
- Participate in a local giving tree at Christmas.
- Sponsor a child through World Vision. We have used child sponsorship as an opportunity to learn more about life in that country. I have my children get involved in writing to our sponsored children. It has been a wonderful way to learn about faraway places where simple things like clean water are huge blessings. (Click Get Involved for other ways to make a difference through World Vision like knitting, putting together kits, and praying)
- Use the Operation World app or resources to start a time of praying for the needs of people in another country each day. Take a few minutes and read about the people and trials of that area. (We use the app as part of our morning time each day.)
- Consider ways to participate in foster care. Some ways include becoming a foster family, a respite provider, or coming alongside a family who is doing foster care.
- Create care packages to give to the homeless, military, or others your family thinks of.
- Serve an elderly person by bringing by a meal, some fresh fruit, or by shoveling the walk or raking leaves.
- Conversations. And by conversations, I don’t mean telling your picky eater, “Be thankful and eat all the food on your plate, there are starving children in Africa.” Instead, I mean using news stories, situations, books they read, or photos they see as teachable moments where you can remind your children of all they have to be grateful for. Share stories from your own experiences and things you have seen or done.
- Keep your eyes, ears, and hearts open to others around you. You never know when an opportunity will arise where you and your children can serve someone in need.
It’s Up to You to Cultivate Gratitude in Your Children
You hold the ability to cultivate gratitude in your children. It doesn’t come naturally to most. However, intentionally pointing out the needs of others and teaching your children to meet those needs when they can provide a great way to nurture gratitude in the hearts of your children.
