How Thankfulness Wrecked Our Family

Can you be totally devastated by thankfulness?

Can the act of one (or many) create such a cataclysmic change in the heart of another?

Can gratitude change who we are?

I struggle to put into words this idea, however, I can say that kindness and thankfulness have wrecked me (for the good) in unimaginable ways. I’ll never be the same.

A History of Giving Thanks

When you are in the trenches day in and day out, thankfulness in the moment of the daily living can be so hard. Even on a good day, ‘whiners are gonna whine’, right?  Taking a look back at how far we’ve come in our homeschool journey and letting thankfulness wreck our family has been so rewarding.

Over the past seven years, our homeschool journey has been a roller coaster of exhilarating highs and death defying lows.  Looking back I can joyfully say our family has been wrecked by thankfulness.

The Kindness of Community

We all know as homeschoolers how important community can be to socializing our kids. Just knowing you aren’t alone in the homeschooling journey is such a blessing. But when crisis hits, it’s community that often holds the pieces together while you tend to the moment by moment crisis details of life.

Friends step in and offer meals, play dates, or just a listening ear.  A loving community is all it takes to make a terrible situation bearable. The kindness of community brings blessing in the midst of chaos.

Read more about how one community wrecked our family with kindness and thankfulness.   We are so beyond grateful for their incredible out-pouring of love, encouragement and support.

Hope For The Future

Of course, we know that life will continue to have bumps and challenges along the way. However, we also know that we are blessed with a history of giving thanks in all things.

I encourage you to take the time to remember the difficult times in your life, in the past or in the present. Giving thanks really does bring encouragement & hope for the future.

List the places where you see God’s faithfulness.  It might be as simple as a child’s improved handwriting. Maybe it’s the energy to get the laundry folded and put away.

When you look at your past, where was God faithful and worthy of thanksgiving?

When you consider today, where do you see God’s faithfulness to you at this moment in time?

As you consider your future, where do you need to press in and trust that God’s faithfulness goes before you and is preparing a way?

May your family experience the joy and blessing of a thankful heart this holiday season. Stay captivated by His good gifts. You’ll have little choice but to get wrecked by thankfulness when you see your lists of His goodness laid out before you.

Read the entire 5-part blog series “Wrecked By Thankfulness” for the whole story of how our family pressed into God’s goodness and learned the joy of being thankful in all things.

Shannan is a wife, mum, and saved by grace child of The King. Her home base is in Scotland, where she homeschools her two kids (age 11 & 14) and learns on location throughout Europe as much as possible. She is a classical style home educator living out her God-breathed dream of raising her family in Europe.

She’s passionate about many things, especially helping others learn on location using the world as their textbook. She encourages you to pursue your God-breathed dreams, no matter what it is! You can join her at Captivating Compass for homeschool and family travel inspiration.

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