30 days of Thanks - thank God for silence

I am trying to follow this 30 Days of Thanks theme I received from a devotional e-mail I receive everyday and this is the theme from yesterday:

Day # 3, Monday, Nov. 3

Thank God for Silence.

Due to the fast pace of our lives these days,

most of us have forgotten the gifts of silence and reflection.

Take a few minutes sometime today,

find a quiet spot and think of things you are grateful for.

 

So I posed this question to the kids today when we were on our walk with Cali.

It was after we stopped to play with the neighbor's dogs and I was getting really frustrated that the kids wouldn't listen to me asking them to stay off the grass. One of the dogs' was pooping in a few spots and it was really testing my patience to see the kids run around after the dogs knowing that someone was going to step in the poop and the end result would be me cleaning it up. So after we said our goodbye's I gave them a what-for about listening to their mom and how disappointed I was in their behavior and how I just can't understand how they could be so disrespectful for not listening to me... blah, blah, blah. It's bad when you are sick of hearing yourself talk yet you can't shut up even though you KNOW the other parties are just begging you to stop or at the very least, have already completely tuned you out...

So , when I finally shut up, I remembered that the 30 days of Thanks theme I am trying to follow, so I apologized to the kids and asked them to forgive me for ranting and raving and to just be silent on the walk and think of something they are grateful for. Here is what they said:

Payton is thankful for his Jesus, Jimmy is thankful for his family and Reagan is thankful for her dog. Then I mentioned that I was thankful for my freedom, which initiated a lively discussion on America and all the blessings we have as a nation. I am so proud of my kids and for the wonderful things they are thankful for.

So after  I thought of everything that transpired last night, I was really convicted about the way I acted towards them and I would like to change the thing I am thankful for.

I really think I am most thankful for Forgiveness. I am thankful I am forgiven and that I have the willingness and the ability to forgive. I would be nothing with out it, but because of it, I have everything.