Forgiveness, Compassion and Thankfulness

We’ve been working on a LOT of attitudes this past week. Oh what? It’s only Wednesday? It seems like it’s been a longer week….but since school is beginning for us on Tuesday again, that’s quite ok.

Our We Choose Virtues card and chart are getting some great coverage – we’ve been really focusing on forgiveness toward others and conflict resolution. I love how in Matthew 18 we are told how to handle situations where someone is sinning against us – no tattle-taling, talk to them first! The kids have been doing much better on this, and so have I in sitting and waiting to hear how they handle it without jumping in right away (unless, of course, someone is getting hurt).

Compassion is another area we’ve been working on – 1 Peter 3:8 says “Finally all of you, live in harmony with one another. Be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble”. Something ALL of us struggle with (mama included!) is showing compassion to others – especially when they’re hurt. With 3 kids (and 2 of them boys!) someone is always getting hurt. So it’s easy for me to get frustrated and brush it off, because I don’t want to draw too much attention to it, or I’m just tired of dealing with it. But my tendency can be to ignore and roll my eyes rather than show compassion. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure my kids have picked up on that and show the SAME lack of compassion toward each other when they’re hurt (surprise? not really if I think about it!).

The best way to encourage our children to show compassion toward others is to exhibit compassion in our own actions and attitudes!

When they’ve fallen down for the billionth time, wipe those tears and scraped knees, give a kiss and a squeeze, then encourage them to pick up where they left off. Talk about helping others who are hurt, or hurting; being sensitive when someone is crying and not always trying to tell them to “suck it up” or tough it out. My boys can be SUPER sensitive about things, so it’s easy for me to become frustrated. But when you’re tempted to brush them off, think about the last time you were in tears over something that turned out to be silly or ridiculous, and how you felt – did you want someone to comfort you?

Not coddling, but comfort is what we seek when our hearts are torn or we’re frustrated about something.

Be encouraging, no matter how hard and how many times you’ve had to do it already!

After a few months of recording daily gifts, and noticing what a change it brings about to my attitude of gratitude, I decided it was time we did the same with our kids. Once a day (or more if they want!) they are writing or drawing something they are thankful for. My eldest has really taken off with this and is the one always reminding me to do our thankful journals! I would like it to be something we do at breakfast each day, as I know how starting out the day with the focus on God’s blessing us usually helps me have a better attitude throughout.

The Boy (7) drew a picture of his room – he’s thankful for a bedroom and toys to play with.