Whatever Happened to Thanksgiving?

What Happened to Thanksgiving?

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

Contrary to what the advertising industry would have us believe, we’re not on the verge of Christmas! Despite every store’s red and green decorations and the cheesy Christmas muzak wafting through the air…It’s Not the Time For Mistletoe and Ivy!

November brings my favorite holiday of all. In the Scheibner family, Thanksgiving is always a special time of food, family, and most importantly, a dedicated opportunity to look for reasons to be thankful for all God has provided us. At least, that’s the plan.

Unfortunately, too often, there’s a problem with that plan. Too often, the days rush by, filled with busyness, appointments, and All.The.Things, and then, too late, we try to backfill all of the thankfulness that we MEANT to focus on for the month.

There’s an easy solution to our dilemma and one that I think will be helpful to you also. Instead of just “hoping” that this year will be better, let’s write down our ideas and put them on the calendar. Does scheduling thankfulness seem strange? Trust me, that simple calendar reminder will work wonders to help you remember to be thankful.

May I share some of our favorite ideas and ways to keep our Thanksgiving focus on being thankful? (Not just on who will bring the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie) Trust me, it won’t mean extra shopping, running around, or too much brain space. Each idea will be simple to put into practice and I’ll only share one at a time!

Here’s idea Number 1.

Grab a jar. A mason jar would work perfectly, and if you’re more crafty than me, you could even decorate it. Place the jar in a prominent spot with a stack of sticky notes and a pen next to it. Remind everyone in the family to take some time each day to record the things they can be thankful for that day. Every Saturday evening until Thanksgiving, take turns pulling out the sticky notes and reading them aloud. Encourage your youngest children to draw sticky note pictures of what they’re thankful for or write it out for them.

You may be surprised by how this simple exercise begins to change your family culture into a culture of thankfulness. Keep your eyes open for the next blog with a new idea. Until then, have fun noticing all that God has done for you!

Thankfully yours,

Megan