12 november 2024 www.goodnewsfl.org Good news • South Florida edition PARENTING When we think of the month of November, the first thing that comes to mind is thankfulness and gratitude. It is usually the classroom theme of the month and for good reason. It needs to be something that we are intentionally teaching our children. A special trip I remember my first Summer as a behavioral specialist at Sheridan House. One of the focal points of the summer program was a trip at the end of the summer. The teens would spend all summer working towards the trip. My starry eyed twenty-two-year-old self looked forward to the trip with the girls all summer. This was to be a special trip because we were privileged to take the girls to Washington D.C. that year. Many of them had never been out of the state let alone on a plane. The day of the trip finally arrived, and I was dumbfounded when the grumbling began. That grumbling then moved on to complaining; lines were too long, food wasn’t what they wanted, it was too hot, etc. I saw first-hand through this experience that gratitude isn’t something that just comes naturally, it needs to be both “caught” and “taught.” Instant everything We are now a couple of generations into this idea of instant everything. We move quickly from one thing to the next and our attention spans have shortened even more. This next generation will have not known life before social media, instant gratification, having search engines at their fingertips and now A.I. assistants. With all of this we can see their mental health is suffering. Surprisingly, one of the ways we can combat this is teaching gratitude. Benefits of gratitude Gratitude causes us to take a step back, to pause and reflect, and then be thankful. Thankful for a moment, thing, person or action. As we have stated, this doesn’t come naturally, we foster this in our children. There have been many studies now that show the amazing impacts of gratitude. It appears to activate areas of the brain that help to regulate emotions and memory. People who are grateful have more activity in the area of their brains that are associated with learning and decision making. I know from personal experience the impact keeping a gratitude journal has on my wellbeing. If you take a minute to research, the impacts are quite literally mind blowing. Not only is this a way for us to encourage good mental health habits but it also furthers our parenting goals. We have mentioned that raising a godly child who is marriageable and employable should be our future end game for parenting. Gratitude trains the brain to look for the positive over the negative. It strengthens all types of relationships. Finally, scripture tells us to practice gratitude. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). The wording of those two verses are a command to us. We are to practice rejoicing and giving thanks in all things. I love that the verse in Philippians even mentions thanksgiving as a response to anxiousness. It goes on to say, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Our response to circumstances should be prayer and thanksgiving. From that, God promises to give our hearts peace that passes all understanding. What a gift to teach our children. As we begin gratitude month, with all the things going on in our world this November, take time every day to teach thanksgiving! Visit parentingonpurpose.org for more advice from Dr. Bob Barnes and Torrey Roberts. Catching and Teaching Gratitude - Dr. Bob Barnes and Torrey Roberts - Sheridan House Family Ministries
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