How many of us remember our mothers nudging us to say “Thank you” at the dinner table or reminding us to write thank-you notes for our birthday presents?
We probably thought our mothers were pushing us toward good manners, but our mothers were wiser than we knew. As usual.
It’s easy in this too-busy, too-crowded, too-expensive, too-demanding world we live in to fall into a habit of crabbiness. But what if we made a conscious choice to practice being grateful as our mothers kept reminding us?
Practicing gratitude is powerful. If we make a point of it for a while, before long—as our mothers hoped—it becomes a healthy habit, a habit that has benefits far beyond good manners. Being grateful leads to being kind. Being grateful leads to being loving. Being grateful leads to being forgiving. Being grateful leads to being joyful.
This message is excerpted from the June 2015 Women of the ELCA stewardship devotion by Audrey Riley.
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