When our boys were little, my wife and I moved from being youth pastors at a church of about 400 to pastor a small church in northeast Missouri. Our older boys were three and five at the time and they asked us right after we moved if we could go on a family vacation. We had just moved to a small church with a small parsonage and not a lot of money, but we had grateful hearts. We decided to get the boys together in the living room and pray about their vacation idea. We got in a little circle and asked them what they wanted to do, and they had the idea of going to a hotel with a pool so they could swim. They also hoped for a theme park where they could ride rides. Then we prayed. We simply said, “Jesus our boys would like to do this for vacation, and we ask you to provide for us.” Their faith was big and our hearts were sincere.
Within a week I got a phone call asking me to play in a missions volleyball tournament. I was excited about that, but I didn’t know they would have a lot of door prizes because they were sponsored by a great Christian radio station. Right after I arrived at the event, I immediately won four free tickets to Adventure Land in Des Moines, Iowa. I went over to my car and started to cry. I had such a grateful heart because I knew my boys were going to get to see that Jesus answered their prayer.
That was a Friday and Saturday, and then on Sunday, when we went to church, a sweet little lady came up to my wife Jennifer and said, “Sweetheart, the Lord told me to give this to you,” and she gave her a hundred dollar bill. On the same day, a gentleman in our church met me at the back door and said, “Pastor, we want to bless you!” and he gave me fifty dollars for our family. Within just a couple of weeks, our prayer was answered.
We got the boys back together in the living room, and we told them all the things the Lord had done. They were giddy with gratitude! They were jumping up and down and excited as they saw what the Lord had done. We were humbled and grateful, so we planned our vacation to Des Moines. We stayed in a hotel where the boys could swim, and they had so much fun splashing around. We went to the theme park, and you would have thought that they were at Disney Land or Six Flags. They skipped, hopped, and celebrated their fun adventure. On our trip back home in our little Honda Civic, we had such peace, joy, and contentment. We even had two dollars left after filling up our car with fuel when we made it home. We had grateful hearts in that little car because our big God heard and answered prayers for the little boys we loved. Our need was small but real.
6 Ways to Develop Grateful Hearts in Your Family
Over the years, we have tried to be intentional to develop grateful hearts in our family. Here are 6 practical things that we have done:
- Talk about things you are grateful for.
During Thanksgiving we would go around the table and share things that we were thankful for. Sometimes, the boys would be silly or fun, but then they would also pause and reflect on meaningful things to them or our family, and it would inspire grateful hearts.
2. Pray at family meals.
We also would make time to be thankful during daily meals throughout the year. My wife had a great way of seasoning our life with thoughtful gratitude at the just the right time to sow seeds of appreciation. We treasured family meals because they were intentional times we could slow down, give thanks to the Lord, and count our blessings.
3. Write thank you cards.
A third thing we did was encourage our children to have a grateful heart when they received gifts from other people. We would have them write a thank you card even when they were little so they could express their gratitude and appreciation personally when they received something from someone else.
4. Give to others.
We also would pack shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child. It was fun to go to stores and shop for shoebox items and then pack them. The light bulb moment came when our children realized all of these items we shopped for were going to other children who had greater needs than them. We loved this as a family because we knew that children in hard-to-reach places would receive the gospel message with clarity and simplicity. I worked for Samaritan’s Purse and saw examples over and over again where children in other countries would have grateful hearts to receive gifts and our kids had grateful hearts to be able to give to the neediest around the world.
5. Reflect on Christ’s love and sacrifice for us.
Our family loved the tradition near Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday to open Resurrection Eggs. These were little plastic eggs that were filled with scriptures and symbols that would point to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. One child might pick the egg and the other open and the third read about the meaning. These were powerful little moments that reflected upon Christ’s love and sacrifice for us, and this never failed to produce potent grateful heart moments in our family.
6. Start traditions to point your kids to Jesus.
Maybe our family favorite was our advent calendar during the Christmas season. During the month of December, a symbol like a little wreath or a candy would replace a bell velcroed on the felt Christmas tree. There was a guide that explained what each symbol meant and it had a scripture to go along with it. Our boys loved this tradition and it always pointed them to having a grateful heart for what Jesus had done for them.
Verses about Developing a Grateful Heart
Reading Scripture and praying as a family is another practical way to develop a grateful heart. Here are five Scriptures you can use with your family and some ideas on how to apply them.
- “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.”—Psalm 116:17
Application: Thanksgiving is my response to the goodness and graciousness of God.
Prayer: “Lord, thank you for being so good. We thank you even though we are walking through challenging situations and we ask for your help.”
2. “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”—Hebrews 13:15-16
Application: Praise and thanksgiving please the heart of God and develop a grateful heart.
Prayer: “Lord, show us specifically a family you want us to serve during this holiday season.”
3. “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.”—Psalm 33:1
Application: A grateful heart with praise is beautiful to the Lord!
Prayer: “Heavenly Father, we pause and thank you for this beautiful season of life we are walking through. Thank you so much for your kindness towards us!”
4. “This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.”—Isaiah 43:21
Application: God created us to praise Him and develop a grateful heart.
Prayer: “God, we choose to praise you today!”
5. “He has put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”—Psalm 40:3
Application: Praise and thanksgiving will result in others trusting God.
Prayer: “Thank you, Lord, for a new song. As we praise You, please let others see our sincere faith and build your church through our obedience.”
A Thanksgiving Prayer
“Heavenly Father, we have great gratitude for your Word and the life you have given us through your Son, Jesus! Because of You, we have grateful hearts. We choose to praise and worship You for who You are and what You’ve done. Please help us and our children foster grateful hearts for the blessings and grace You’ve given us. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen!”
Takeaway
There is still time this year for you and your family to take advantage of opportunities to serve others and be living proof of a loving God to a watching world. Click here to learn how you and your family can be a part of serving others through Thanksgiving Blessing Boxes.