Be Thankful (Let the Holidays Begin!)

Yesterday I went to school for the last time in 2009. Students were a bit crazy. I had all these fantastic plans on how to make the day memorable for my students. For my homeroom of only 15 kids, I bought donuts and put together little "gifts" that consisted of some stationary, chocolates, and candy. They were semi-grateful, in the beginning anyway. Then I dared to do a math game entitled "Equation Persuasion". What a disaster! I guess I was supposed to plan some big party and provided them with some mindless entertainment in the form of a movie. In the end, it wouldn't have matter. Some kids would have claimed that the party was lame and the movie was stupid.

At one point, one student asked, "Where's my card?" I retorted back with, "Where's mine?" No response. When the bell finally rang, a few kids thanked me for the donuts. At least someone appreciated the trouble I went through.

Sadly, this seems to be the norm. The students I have taught throughout the years often lack manners. It is common to say "Good morning" to a student in the hall and receive no response. Hearing the words, "thank you" is rare. I do not doubt that parents have tried to teach their children to be appreciative. But at some point, being impolite and selfish becomes cool. Human nature, I guess. Reminds me of a parable of Jesus: he healed ten lepers, only one came back to thank him (Luke 17:11-19). Thankfulness is rare.

Thus, as my holidays begin (yay!), I pray that I will be filled with a spirit of thankfulness. And I need God's wisdom to impart the value of thankfulness to my daughter. Hopefully, as a teenager, she will say "thank you" more often than not!

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