Tuesday’s Tips: Growing Gratitude During Lent

I’m so glad you stopped by today for Tuesday’s Tips (on Wednesday today… seems I’m a step behind everywhere this week!). I hope that as you peruse this weekly IDEA SWAP for moms, you’ll find a gold-mine of encouragement and treasure trove of creative ideas excavated straight from the sticky trenches of parenthood.
Of course a SWAP wouldn’t be a true exchange without many voices. So, please consider chiming in the discussion and sharing your own great ideas. If you’ve discovered a tried and true trip that has made motherhood a little easier, a little more exciting, or a bit more meaningful, please let me know.

Just leave a comment after this post or send me an email (rbruxvoort@iowatelecom.net) so I can share your idea in the next swap! I’d love to feature you on an upcoming Tuesday. Let the digging begin!

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you probably already know that our family uses pennies to grow gratitude on a daily basis. (If you don’t know how this all began, read the story here). A gleam of copper reminds us that life is far richer when we take time to thank God for the littlest of things. Praise shifts our eyes from the gifts to the Giver and shifts our hearts from the muck of this world to the things of Heaven. 


During this Lenten season, I’ve traded out our penny jar for a jar of nails and challenged my family to begin and end each day “at the cross.”


Here’s the simple idea:


 When you wake-up, drop one nail in the jar and praise God for something as the day begins.


 Then before you climb in bed for the night, grab another nail and thank God for something as the day ends. 


Of course, our jar of nails isn’t limited to the bookends of each day. I love it when I see the kids  drop a nail in the jar each time they walk by it. And I’m enjoying the tangible reminder to pause in the hustle and bustle of my day and thank my Savior for being and evident part of it. 


At the very least, I hope that this simple jar of nails will help us to be more aware of Jesus’ presence during this special season of Lent. 


May you find that praise leads you to the same sweet place!


The Overflow:  Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. –Hebrews 13:5