What Are You Teaching Your Children?

A D D I C T I O N!

It screams negativity. It's one of those words that make you cringe because you know the story can only be bad...alcohol addiction, smoking, drugs, addiction to lying, eating too much or the need to always be watching t.v. or an electronic game.

The actual definition of the word is "...the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming..." Enslaved? Horrific. We certainly don't want to be a part of something like that, right?

Allow me to push you outside of your sweet, comfortable box for a minute.

What if I told you that I love addictions? They are what move me. They push me forward and cause me to do things out of the ordinary. As long as they are positive, I am passionate about my addictions! They are what have shaped me the past 20 years.

I'm sure you've caught on by now and can think of some "enslavements" yourself that really aren't that bad. For a word that has such negative connotations, I actually like it...then again, I'm a fan of controversial words!

Here are some of my awesome addictions:

Laughing

Reading

Blogging (this can be good and bad - I could sit here for hours and ignore the family!)

Learning about essential oils

Home schooling my kids

Teaching my children about God's grace

Praying

Writing in my 1000 Gift List Journal


My life seems to change so quickly that I become passionate (yes, addicted) to something new every few months! My latest addictions are gardening (I'll have to share my pictures in a later blog) and Ann Voskamp. Surely you know by now from my previous posts about the One Thousand Gift List and how incredibly satisfying it has been for me and my kids. We started our thankful journal a few months back. Since then, I have purchased her book, watch her weekly videos, read her blogs, follow her on Twitter and Facebook and stalk her website at www.aholyexperience.com

You ask why?

Because I am addicted to learning more about grace and this "eucharisteo" that she has taught me. Since I want you to experience this passion with me, I will leave you the challenge of looking this word up and visiting Ann's site.

Here is one of her emails I received a few days ago. I know this is a much longer blog than I normally write, but I promise you, your time will not be wasted. There is so much power and truth behind grace - not just for us but for our children as well.6 Reasons to Focus Ourselves and our Children On Seeing Grace:

1. Better Attitudes:
Children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families

2. Better Achieve Personal Goals:
Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions.

3. Closer Relationships, Greater Happiness:
Professor Froh infused middle–school classes with a small dose of gratitude—and found that it made students feel more connected to their friends, family, and their school: “By the follow–up three weeks later, students who had been instructed to count their blessings showed more gratitude toward people who had helped them, which led to more gratitude in general. Expressing gratitude was not only associated with appreciating close relationships; it was also related to feeling better about life and school. Indeed, compared with students in the hassles and control groups, students who counted blessings reported greater satisfaction with school both immediately after the two–week exercise and at the three–week follow–up.”

4. Better Grades:
Gratitude in children: 6-7th graders who kept a gratitude journal for only three weeks, had an increased grade point average over the course of a year.

5. Greater Energy, Attentiveness, Enthusiasm:
A daily gratitude intervention (self-guided exercises) with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy compared to a focus on hassles or a downward social comparison (ways in which participants thought they were better off than others).

6. Greater Sensitivity:
Children who kept gratitude journals were more sensitive to situations where they themselves can be helpful, altruistic, generous, compassionate, and less destructive, more positive social behaviors, and less destructive, negative social behaviors…
“Gratitude is good for the giver, and good for the receiver,” Professor Emmons said. “This has been documented in friendships, romantic partners and spouses. One study showed that the mere expression of thanks more than doubled the likelihood that helpers would provide assistance again.”

"And if We Don’t Practice Gratitude? On the other hand, research shows that youth who are ungrateful are “less satisfied with their lives and are more apt to be aggressive and engage in risk-taking behaviors, such as early or frequent promiscuous activities, substance use, poor eating habits, physical inactivity, and poor academic performance.”

A child who is apathetic, the dark hopelessness of this world threatening to consume? We hand our children a torch when we hand them a pen, a dare to hunt for Him. Sparks fall and the world catches and they see light everywhere, God-glory igniting everything. Hand them a pen. Hand them a pen. The way to counter apathy is to count the ways of God….

A child who is afraid? Count blessing so Who can be counted on…A child who is angry? Anger is always just this: the bleeding of a deep wound. Wrap up wounds intentionally with the gentle bandage of God’s unending love, His daily, tender graces.
A child who needs to learn pray? “The only real prayers are the ones mouthed with thankful lips. Prayer, to be prayer, to have any power to change anything, must first speak thanks: “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6 NIV, emphasis added).

So we try this:
4 Simple ways to help children see grace, give thanks to God

1. Sticky note on the mirror: What are you grateful to God for right now?
2. Daily, tangible reminders: Collective sticky notes of thanks to Him on a window
3. A basket of thank-you notes always left out, an invitation to give thanks to someone
4. Daily Rhythms: every night write out a few more of 1000 Gifts or fill out “7 Gifts” or sing around the table “Count Your Blessings” — and each person share a few more blessings from His hand.

It sounds like a ridiculous informerical. Why does gratitude do all of this — how can it, really?

Because we were made to live in gratitude to God, giving glory to God, we were made to live in a posture of grateful worship, and when we live in praise, we live our purpose, and all the pieces fall in place, us all falling down in thanks.

My watch is ticking quiet today. I don’t know how long I have to live full of His joy. I do have now. And if perspective can always adopt gratitude and gratitude always parents joy, I pick up a pen and bow the head and pray to be that kind of parent, the one laughing at all the days to come, the one seeing shimmering grace moments already here…"


Now do you see the spark from whence my passion has flared? Please...buy her book and visit her web page. You won't be sorry!