30 Days of Gratitude: Why I am Grateful for My Childhood Lesson

My childhood memories fade as I age, but I cling to golden memories of lessons learned through the years. My gratitude rises up and fills my spirit as I remember God’s Holy guidance teaching me over and over again.

After kicking a trashcan around my yard in anger, I learned the most important lesson of my life from my mother.

The day’s sun scorched my little face. Anger filled every pore. How dare my mom ask me to take this impossibly, heavy can to the porch. I reasoned in my little brain that I was just plain tired. I kicked the can over again until I gave in  and in obedience picked the can up and took it to the carport.

My mother met me at the door, “You know, Jesus, saw you kicking around that can and being bad. How do you think it made Him feel?”

My little self failed to comprehend the Gospel then. I blurted, “No he did not. Jesus is dead.”

My mother answered with love, “Yes, Jesus died on the cross, but that is only half the story.”

She pulled me into our living room, grabbed the family Bible, and opened it to the Gospels where she shared the rest of the story.

“Jesus is risen, and He sits on the right hand side of God. He died for our sins, but He rose again so that we can know the miracle of His saving grace,” she explained.

She then lead me through one of the most important prayers in my life, inviting Jesus into my heart to become my Savior and Lord.

Through the years, I learned even more valuable lessons as I grew.

I remember anger and fighting, but I knew that God loved me and held me close in His arms.

Another major lesson learned over and over again centers on God’s provision. He always provides my needs on time and according to His purpose for my life

My experiences in my early tween and years also taught me that discipline meets love every time. Just as my father disciplined me so does my heavenly Father.

This happenings of a particular day in middle school brought this lesson home to me.

I grew up with two brothers and a sister. We loved adventure. I’ll never forget the day we decided to skip school with a friend. Our mother caught us after we turned ourselves in because the friend we skipped school with ended up with a hook embedded in his hand forcing us to seek help.

My mother worked in a laundry mat only a few blocks from our friend’s house where we had decided to go fishing. Needless to say our parents imparted discipline to make us regret our decision to skip school. My dad made us write 500 times, “I will never skip school again. Skipping school is for dummies.”

Since this incident, I received discipline for my bad decisions over and over again. My God deals with me in love because He wants me to walk according to His will.

Proverbs 3:12

Another major lesson came late in the night as a teen.  Sleepless, my mind reeled as I recalled cruel taunts of teenagers at my school.  I called out and He came to me.  Lesson learned that night: Jesus loved me with an everlasting love.

What lessons of childhood are your grateful for? Share in the comments below.

This post continues my special series celebrating, Gratitude. As we approach the Holy Season of Advent, first I fix my mind on thankfulness. Thankfulness is a state of being. It is part of the cross that we deliberately choose to pick up each day as we follow Christ. To celebrate Thankfulness, I have created a Fall Bible study and journey that I invite you to join with me.

As I write this series, I am also joining Jennifer Dukes Lee’s 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge. Her beautiful graphic above lists 30 daily gratitude topics on which I will base each day’s post this month.

Even though the posts will be short, I plan to pack them with inspiration and Scriptural truths as we lead up to the Thanksgiving holidays and then flow into Christmas. This series is my gift to you.