No More Grumbles: How I learned to trust God, stop acting helpless, and be a better example to my kids

No More Grumbles : How I learned to trust God, stop acting helpless, and be a better example to my kids

So my family and I did a pretty dumb thing. We decided to take on a challenge not to grumble for a year. We chronicled the highs and the lows (lots of lows) in my upcoming release The Grumble Free Year.

Here are the top three realities I had to face before I could help anyone with their grumbles.

1. We’re not as smart as we think we are. We have it in our minds that we know the best way for our life, our family, our days. Whether we are big-picture thinkers and have our year planned out—or we just want the next hour to go as planned—we think we know the best way it should happen. Then, when our plans don’t happen we complain, as if our way was better than God’s.

During our grumble-free year, my Grandma broke her back, and I became her full-time caregiver. That was definitely NOT on my list of ways to teach my kids not to grumble. Yet seeing my grandma unable to sit up, and hearing her praise in the midst of her pain, was the best lesson for my kids. As hard as it was to go through that season, I’m thankful for my grandma’s recovery, my own self-discovery, and the lessons on praise in the midst of hardship that my children learned.

2. We’re not as helpless as we think we are. Instead of complaining, we can often make positive changes within our home. It’s easy to complain about a messy house. It’s harder to make (and enforce) a chore chart … at least at first. But we’re not helpless. We can figure out systems. We can train our kids. (They’ll thank you in the long run.)

Whenever I find myself going back to my grumbling ways I pause and ask, “What is one way we can fix this?” Even recently I found myself overwhelmed and grumbling about making dinner for eleven people every night. As I thought about a solution I decided to spend one Saturday prepping thirty dinners to put in the freezer. It was a lot of work, but my kids helped, and they actually enjoyed our busy cooking day. Now I’m thankful, not grumbling, when I…

Read the rest on The Better Mom.

Are you new here? Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, or Instagram. And make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” Read full privacy policy here.