This Week in Faith 11-22-19
/Growing in Gratitude: Cultivating a Thankful Heart in an Entitled Culture
This article connects pain, need and gratitude. As we think about our desire to see our kids be more thankful, and frustrated when they aren’t, it’s important to remember the gospel. We need to remember, and help our kids understand, that thankfulness to God is born out of an honest understanding of the sin in our hearts and the brokenness of our world, but also of the greatness of our God to bring forgiveness, restoration and hope.
Click hear to read the article by Tracey Rector.
4 Ways to Tap Into the Power of Gratitude This Season
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and enter the Advent season, it can be easy to jump into all the things we have to do this season and forget to stop and cultivate the thankfulness this time of year can point us to. If we really believe that every good gift is from above, and that God’s grace means we have what we have because of his kindness [not because we deserve it], then we have more to be thankful for than anyone. I hope these ideas will spark creative ways for you to cultivate thankfulness in your family and in your own heart. I don’t think this happens very often by accident.
Click here to read the article by Brad Griffin.
Parents, Don’t Fear the Teenage Years
I’ve spent a lot of time with teenagers over the last 20 years. And I am months away from having a second teenager in my own house. I have witnessed a lot of struggles and heartache that teenagers have faced. But I have also seen the incredible things that God does in the lives of teenagers. There are definitely challenges along the way. But I am really proud of my teenager [and almost teenager] and enjoying seeing the things God is teaching them and the ways he is growing them. There are things that feel overwhelming about parenting teenagers. This is probably true of whatever the next stage of parenting we are set to encounter because we don’t know what to expect. But God is faithful in every season of parenting. Remember God’s words to Joshua, “Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Click here to read the article by Russell Moore.
This Tom Hanks Story Will Make You Feel Less Bad
This article is pretty long but, if you have the time, it’s really well written, covers lots of subjects, and leaves you feeling better off than when you started. Tom Hanks is starring in a movie about Mr. Rogers that opens today and this article, among other things, points to the power of what we choose to do in small moments to impact others. Fred Rogers and Tom Hanks both display this in their lives and it’s refreshing. The article quotes Mr. Rogers talking about how important it is to point our beauty when we see it. I think this article does just that.
