Given that I am no longer on Facebook, I have not had the chance to see (or participate in) the "What I'm thankful for" posts that always surface around Turkey Day. However, I do like to use this time to reflect on giving thanks for the blessings that God has bestowed upon me and on my family. We also like to use this time to redirect our children towards gratitude and thankfulness rather than the usual "gimmes" that can bubble up during the holidays.
Our preacher challenged each member of our congregation to list 100 things he/she is thankful for between last Sunday and Thanksgiving day. The idea is that the first several (or 50 or 70) will come pretty easily, but then it will require a lot of thought and consideration and will really pull out the deeper aspects of gratitude.
We decided in our house to do this both individually AND as a family. We have one child in particular who has a very difficult time with gratitude. The normal attitude is one of aloofness and ingratitude, and we struggle constantly with instilling appreciation and thankfulness. It seems that the more kids have to be grateful FOR, the less appreciative they become. That is part of the reason we completely purged our house of "stuff" and have instilled the "one in, one out" rule. (But, I digress...that is another post for another day!).
The picture at the top of this post is our "thankfulness" turkey. If I counted correctly, he has 100 feathers. Between now and Thanksgiving Day, each of the 4 of us will add 25 reasons to be thankful to our colorful turkey. I will TRY to remember to post an "after" picture later this month.
A sneak peek of yesterday's contributions: A good house to live in, a faithful husband, a Christian wife, and tacos. :) Stay tuned, and may we all remember to give thanks where thanks is due, to our Almighty Creator.
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