Is there a part of your day that you look forward to the most?
My favorite part of the day is dinner time. It’s time for me to catch up with my kids and husband and spend some quality time with each other. Telling stories and sharing in the exciting things that took place in our day brings blessings to my soul.
We play a game called High/Low. Everyone has to share their favorite part of the day, their “High,” then they share their saddest part of the day, their “Low.” I started to notice that one of my little ones wanted to share their low with everyone first before sharing their high.
Then it turned into sharing two lows while trying to think of a high for the day. This new habit sat uneasy in my heart. I began to see my own dissatisfaction in the day’s happenings through my child’s attitude.
Am I seeing the blessing in my entire day or only clinging to one good thing? Will dwelling on the negative bring about good things or bad things in my life?
God began to prompt my heart with scripture:
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1Thess. 5:18).
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).
All these verses added up to us needing a change of heart. Instead of dwelling on the negative, we needed to thank God for all the things in our day, no matter the circumstance. I still want to hear about the things that hurt their hearts, but I want to develop an attitude of gratitude within my children while they are young, so it will become second nature to them.
Now when we sit down for dinner, I ask them to name two highs from their day. And boy do I get some sweet quality time with my babies! I get so much more information from them as they think about the good things that happened and the excitement to share those blessings with the whole family.
What about you? Do you need a change of heart like me? Do you tend to dwell on the “lows” of your day instead of your “highs?” Ask God to give you awareness of your attitude, so you may recall the verses above and give thanks in all your circumstances! It will be a worthy pursuit for your day, my friend!
Amy Spear is a guest writer on WordSlingersOK.com
