A few days ago, my son asked for his usual breakfast sandwich—English muffin, ham, egg, and cheese. We were out of a few things, so we worked with what we had: toast, bacon, egg, and cheese. It turned out delicious. He ate every bite, thanked me more than once, and went on with his morning.

Later, I overheard him describing it to my husband.

“I had an English muffin without the English muffin… and ham without the ham… and it was supposed to be the regular kind of cheese, but it was a new kind.”

I just stood there thinking… that sandwich you loved became a rundown of everything it wasn’t.

And then I realized — I do that too.

In his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul writes, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things” (Philippians 4:8, NIV). Paul isn’t ignoring the hard stuff. He’s just reminding us not to live there.

It’s so easy to narrate our lives by what’s missing. Church was meaningful, but the music wasn’t my favorite. Dinner was sweet, but someone argued on the way there. My child showed kindness, but they still forgot their homework. How often do we experience something good and yet still define it by what it lacked?

And the truth is, our kids are listening. They are learning how to interpret their days by the way we interpret ours. If our conversations at home focus on what went wrong, they will learn to scan for lack. If our reflections on church and faith highlight what felt off, they’ll learn to critique before they learn to celebrate.

But what if we helped them name what was good first? What if, after church, we asked, “What was one thing you loved?” What if at dinner we said, “Tell me something that made you smile today?” Faith is often formed in the retelling, in the quiet way we frame ordinary moments.

So today, when someone asks how your day is going, start with one good thing. Let that be the lens, not the afterthought.

Because sometimes it isn’t lacking — sometimes it’s just toast, bacon, egg, and cheese.

And it’s good.

Submitted by Layci Clifford, Children's Ministry Leader in Northern Virginia and a graduate of Bethel Seminary with a Master of Arts in Children’s, Youth, and Family Ministry.

Have you ever been excited about a family vacation and wanted your kids to be just as excited, so you kept on talking about what was to come to create excitement and expectation? Or have you ever watched your kids get super excited about Christmas or the snow that is coming? It doesn’t take much to help kids catch your excitement.

One easy way my husband and I helped create expectation in our children’s lives was by asking them some simple questions each night at dinner. We wanted to know what was going on in their lives, especially once they started school, so we would first ask two questions. What was the best part of your day? What was the worst part of your day? We could then fill in the gaps and help them handle and process any challenges in their path. The third question was the most important as it created expectation. Where did you see God today?

We wanted our kids to actively look for God in their day. We knew through our own experience that it was easy to go about our day-to-day lives and not pay attention to God’s movement. He is there. He is working. He is moving. Are we looking? There are so many distractions and just details in our lives that it is easy to lose focus and not look. We found it was a blessing to all of us when we shared our God sightings. We were reminded of God’s faithfulness and His great, big plan.

Give it a try today. Set the expectation that God is on the move and all you need to do is look for Him.

Submitted by Katie Bliss, Children’s Pastor at Hope Church in Oakdale, MN.