This Saturday, perhaps you are getting out the decor and contacting your guests with details about the big day! One big thing you should not leave out of your planning for Thanksgiving is this....
Make it thankful!
Remember that Thanksgiving is not about eating food
and hanging with family; it’s about giving thanks to God for the food and family. Here are ideas for you to help your whole
family (including you) express thankfulness, other than going around the table
and saying one thing you’re thankful for:
- Have each family member choose a Bible verse about thankfulness to memorize, and on Thanksgiving Day, have each person quote a verse at intervals throughout the meal. Tell your invited friends to memorize a verse, as well!
- Place a bowl of papers at the dining room door, each paper having something different on it (Examples: Family, health, house, food; or put each guest’s name on a paper). Have everyone take one paper and thank God and pray for what or whom they drew.
- Open a discussion about why we struggle with thankfulness.
- Give each guest a paper and a moment to write out a prayer, poem, or song expressing thankfulness to God. After everyone is finished, ask them to read what they wrote to the group. At the end, collect the papers; over the next week or so, type out what everyone wrote and make a “2018 Thanksgiving Book”, complete with a group picture from the meal, then give the books to each attendee.
- Get a whiteboard or chalkboard to be your “thankful board”. Every day leading up to Thanksgiving (A month? Ten days? A week?), everyone in the household agree on one thing to add to the board. Place the board in a prominent place, perhaps above the dining room table, so that you can see it and remember to be thankful for what you list there.
- Write thank you notes to the people in your life. Leave one on your husband’s pillow, at dad’s favorite chair, mom’s desk, the kids’ dressers, as place cards for your dinner guests, etc. And mail them to the people you won’t see this month.
* * * * *
What traditions
or new ideas do you have for expressing thankfulness this holiday? I’d love to
hear! Share them in a comment below!
Blessed,
Abby
Blessed,
Abby
Good ideas! One thing I have thought of doing that is similar to one of your ideas is to hang a canvas or a piece of paper on my wall and write down something that I'm thankful for each day. It isn't a family thing, but it can help me remember to be thankful! :) Something I've been trying to do is to think of little things that I'm thankful for that I don't generally think about (example: I can be thankful for candles because they smell wonderful and they provide a feeling of coziness;).
ReplyDeleteLouisa,
DeleteIt is so important to be thankful as an individual as well as a family! Thankfulness starts in one person at a time and spreads.
I love your thought to be thankful for candles! I've found that if I'm thankful for the little things I do have, I won't wish for the things I don't. Wonderful thoughts! :)