What's your answer?

I saw this on someone's facebook page today:

What if you woke up today and all you had left was what you thanked God for yesterday?

Profound!  I love that just reading this question makes my mind immediately race to the most precious things in my life.  It's also interesting to me to realize the things that didn't rush to mind.  Things that I usually would place importance on and spend time/energy working toward or worrying about.  Things like how stylish my clothes are (or are not) & what my hair and makeup look like when I'm in public.  Things like who wins various Reality TV shows or what we're going to do over the weekend.  It's amazing how much time I spend thinking about things that really mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. 

After reading this question for the first time, I also imagined lots of people sitting alone in great parking spots at the mall.

I was happy to know that every day I pray a prayer of thanksgiving for our family, our home, and having enough food to eat.  I was also grateful that I daily thank the Lord for loving us. 

As I thought more about it, I realized that my kids take turns praying at meal times and the things they are thankful for make my heart smile.  They always list these things: our family, giving us a nice home to live in, that their brothers & sisters are nice to them, that mom & dad work hard for our family, for our food and for keeping us safe.  Almost daily, they thank the Lord for dying on the cross for us. 

What a blessing it is to realize that my kids get it.  They get that praying is not just about asking God for things.  Sure, they occasionally do, but it's not their focus.  If there is a specific event that we've been talking about as a family, they will pray for that.  For example, they prayed daily for the earthquake victims in Haiti for months and months.  They prayed for their safety and that God would help the people of Haiti.  Everyone once in awhile they'll throw in something silly at the end of their prayer.  Like 'please let mom say yes to watching a movie' or 'please let us have dessert after dinner'.  But they know they're just being silly with those requests. 

I hope to keep this question in mind as I continue to teach my kids about praying.  I believe that instilling a thankful heart in them will work wonders in their lives!