Learning Thankfulness from Our Children

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In my part of the world, the sky is brightening earlier, the days are warmer and we are gearing up for summer. But, even though I can’t wait to enjoy outdoor swimming and picnics on the beach, there is something about the turning colors in the north that makes me nostalgic for another country I love: the USA.

As my American friends across the globe celebrate fall with pumpkins, harvests, thanksgiving, and turkeys, I find myself perplexed. Since June, my Facebook feed has been littered with photos of swimming, shorts, and summertime living. I’ve spent all of my Southern Hemisphere’s winter hankering after summer – envying the long days and short nights of the north. Yet, here I am, on the brink of summer, wishing that I, too, was gearing up for warm fireside cocoa and a white Christmas!

My own inconsistencies stare me in the face, and I’m bemused.

How many times have I lectured my kids on being thankful for what they have? On being content? In all my experience and authority as the mamma, I find myself needing to practice what I preach! A favorite mamma mantra in the Hayes house is, “You can’t control others’ actions; you can only control your own.” Another is, “Focus on the positives.” Yet, this time as I watch my children dancing on the sweet, freshly-mowed lawn, I realize that they are living the mamma mantra. It’s not the worn-out kind of repeated lectures. It’s the living, breathing, seize-each-moment-with-joy kind. They care not about the harvest celebrations, the pumpkin carvings, and the jello salad at Thanksgiving. They’re focusing on the positives they can see, all around them. They’re celebrating what they can’t control. And that’s when I smile. Because this journey we’re on – the homeschooling, the learning, the living of life – is so often punctuated with unexpected lessons that touch me deeper than the words of sages. They’re the moments that my kids’ lives hold up like a mirror to my soul and have me reflecting on truths. Truths that I know. Truths that don’t always sink in. Until I see them out on the grass: dancing under the budding tree, picking the spring flowers, and delighting in all the positive goodness that is the season to come. When I lift my head a little higher, when I glance into the souls of other families, I see those lessons repeated. Other mothers learning at the feet of their children. Other children bringing truth into the folds of their families. Like a bubbling new spring, my heart laughs with joy. Joy! The privilege it is to learn and love, together with our children, is indeed a joyful celebration. ~ Do you have stories of lesson you’ve learnt at the feet of your children? Feel free to share them here. We’d love to hear your stories and learn from them too!