Thanksgiving Follow-Up

Thanksgiving has come and gone already (that was fast!) so I wanted to update you all on my Thanksgiving projects. I have not gone shopping with the kids yet to pick out items for the Loft but plan on doing that sometime in the next few days. We did, however, start our memories on our "Thankful Tablecloth" and had a lot of fun reflecting on how God has blessed us.
On Thanksgiving morning I pulled out the tablecloth and announced that we were going to write on it! Ben thought I was joking but after I explained what we were going to do he was very excited about the project. So we all thought about what we were thankful for this year and wrote it on the tablecloth along with our names and the year.

 The challenge for upcoming years, especially for the kids, will be to pick specific ways God has blessed them throughout the year. Otherwise we might get "mom" every year. But I guess I'm okay with that. :) It turned out to be a great opportunity to practice thankfulness after all.  And I'm looking forward to looking over our blessings each year when we pull it out.

Give Thanks

I'm in total shock that Thanksgiving is just one week away. Where has the time gone? I shouldn't be that surprised, expecially since I've been trying to get my Christmas shopping done before December. I am making this great attempt so I can participate in giving the gift of "presence" that our church is doing together. I do have some gifts but need quite a few more-panic is starting to set in. I might just need a Christmas miracle.

But I don't want to look too far ahead and miss out on the opportunity Thanksgiving provides to be reminded of how thankful I am for all that God has done and IS doing in the lives of my family. So I'm making a conscious effort to bring an attitude of thanks to the forefront of our holiday festivities. Here are a few ideas you can use to practice "thankfulness"as a whole family:

• Find Scriptures that highlight thanks to God and read them together. Talk about how God is working in your family and give thanks to Him together! (Ask your elementary aged kids what their kidSPACE Bible verse is this month to get you started.)

• Buy a white or light colored tablecloth for your Thanksgiving table. Put a fabric marker at each person's place and have them write something they are thankful for (write it for the little ones). Sign and date each entry and reuse the tablecloth each year. Over the years you will enjoy looking back at how God has blessed your family.

• Participate in a giving project as a family. Find something your family can do together to help others. Taking a shopping trip or gathering things together for The Loft would be a great idea!

• Put alphabet magnetic letters in a bucket or can. Take turns pulling one out and thanking God for something that begins with the letter picked.  

                                                                  A B C

                                           

Our family is planning on trying the tablecloth idea as well as gathering/buying things for The Loft. Ask me next week how they went and I'll tell ya!