21 Days To Cultivate A Grateful HeartSýnishorn

Day 16: Share About the Highs and the Lows 

Some days it’s easy to see God’s goodness and others it’s not. There are times when we can stay positive, find the good in the moment and trust His hand is at work. There are also days, or moments throughout your day, that are hard. And that’s ok. 

The passage in 1 Chronicles speaks to the God who delivers and the goodness of God. It acknowledges God and returns praise to Him. We can assume there were some tough things going on if God had to deliver them. In the same way, we walk through the tough stuff and the great stuff with one common denominator. He’s in it all and we can thank Him and give Him praise in the middle of it. 

Doing this alone, on my own, is valuable but the true beauty comes when we begin to share our gratitude in all things with others. When we cultivate a grateful heart and share with people around us, we give them permission to be grateful too! 

In our family it started when our kids were young. We started asking questions in a way that magnified God at work in a way that they can relate. We began sharing highs/lows at meals with the family. Family dinner has been a regular practice at our house and a great place to cultivate conversations about gratitude. When my kids were younger, I would ask questions when they got in the car after school, but when they started driving themselves it morphed into an end of the day or dinner conversation. 

Now, we simply ask, “what was the high and low for your day?” A high is anything good, but it’s personal what you thought was good. The low is anything that was hard or not fun that was a part of the day. Sharing these kept us attentive to what builds and encourages us and what weighs us down. We get to thank God for both and they shape our prayers and our thanksgiving. 

REFLECT: Do you pause long enough to think about the highs and lows you’re experiencing on a daily basis? Do you let one overshadow the other? It’s easy to get discouraged by the lows and miss the highs or ignore the lows and never deal with the frustrations or disappointments. The best option is to acknowledge and deal with both the highs and lows with gratitude and a heart of surrender, willing to let God show up in both. 

RESPOND: Grab your journal and start writing down your highs and lows. Introduce this idea to your family at meals or in the car when you have a captive audience or bedtime when you can intentionally connect. These types of conversations give us a glimpse into each other’s worlds and an opportunity to share and practice having a grateful heart together.