Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” Psalm 95:2 ESV
Happy Thanks-vember! My goal is to help you have fun this month as you teach your kids about having a year-round spirit of thankfulness! Before we run into a Christmas season of “I Want!” it is especially important that we take time to focus on thankfulness. When our hearts are full of thanksgiving, it’s hard to grumble and complain. When we focus on what we have instead of the have-nots, it’s hard not to be joyous! And we all want our kids to be filled with joy, right?
Planning a Month of Thanks-vember!
I want to start out Thanks-vember by encouraging you to take a few minutes to plan with your kids. Then you can make sure that the month doesn’t slip by you without remembering those that mean so much. Here’s what to do…
1. First things first–say a prayer. God can use these simple activities to bless others who need it. Take a minute to not only pray about who you want to bless and how you want to bless them, but actually sit for a few minutes in silence and let God work on your hearts as He leads you to who might need to be blessed in this season.
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people.” Psalm 85:8
2. Make a list of people that your children are thankful for. They can range from close family members to service workers. If your children are having trouble being thankful for a particular person you feel they should be thankful for (Can you say, “Sibling rivalry!”), you may want to dictate one of the people your children are going to celebrate.
Determine how many people your family should celebrate during the month. If you are extra ambitious, you could even focus on one person per day. (God bless you! That’s a lot of work!) Just get your ideas down so you can budget for time and materials in advance.
3. Choose something special to do for each of the people on your list. You may want to do the same thing for each person, or you might want to individualize it according to what you think that person will enjoy. Again, prayer can be your best friend in determine what will be the biggest blessing. Some suggestions might include…
- Making a card for them and writing a note of appreciation in it.
- Making or buying them a small gift. (You might choose to do this now, but save it for Christmas. Your Christmas to-do list will shrink faster this way!)
- Having them over for a special thank-you meal or delivering goodies to them.
- Think of something that will help them out…washing their car windows, raking leaves, doing an errand for them.
4. Get out your calendar and write down when it would actually be feasible to live out your plan. This isn’t meant to be an added stress to the holiday season, but something to put meaning behind the hype. If you plan right, you can minimize the potential stress that doing extra things might bring.
5. Just do it! Each day (or week) that you focus on a particular person, or group of people, take a little extra time to pray for them. After all, God is able to do much more for the people we love than we are!
I would love to hear how your Thankfulness Plan blesses others and what you chose to do. Let us know below!
*You can also find this post on Monday’s Musings.
photo credit: Thankful Cards Variety via photopin (license)
I love your post!!! What a wonderful way to be thankful…teaching your kids to show it 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing your post at Together on Tuesdays!!!
Thanks for allowing me to share and stopping by!
A great way to celebrate November with children – I love it!
Thanks!
Great ideas and a wonderful play on words. I also have been trying to teach my daughter to be thankful for the people around us and when it’s her turn to pray. She goes on and on and on. 😀
I think God smiles a little extra at the heart-felt prayers of children. (Of course, we are children in His eyes too!) FYI I just read your blog and am praying for you too!
Loved this idea! We do a countdown to Christmas but haven’t thought about spending November this way. Love your creativity. Definitely going to implement this idea in some way, shape, or form. Sharing!
Jelli recently posted…Thin Mint Fudge
Thanks so much for sharing! I would love to hear how this goes for you on the blog or Facebook. I hope it’s a blessing!
I love this! I’m going to try & commit to doing this. My girls are a little too young I think, but I would love to show my thankfulness to everyone. I have some awesome people in my life.
Lauren, RunHoly.com
Yay! I would love to hear how it goes for you on the blog or Facebook. I don’t know how old your daughters are, but if they are even toddlers, they could do little scribble drawings. I use the scribbles sometimes to make them into simple cards. Happy Thanksgiving Season!
Love this! I am participating in an Instagram challenge for #onemonthofthankfulness. It has been so good to see all the things people are thankful for.
Brandi @ penguinsinpink.com recently posted…Cranberry-Orange Breakfast Cookies {Gluten Free, Dairy Free}
That sounds fun. I will definitely check that out. I just started my Instagram Minivan Ministries account about 5 minutes ago–literally! Thanks for sharing!
I really love the step about scheduling on the calendar. I often have great ideas and plans, but life gets the better of me and the time just vanishes.
Marissa
I know exactly what you mean. I learn from my mistakes!
may the thankfulness of this month last throughout the entire year:)
http://unveiledandrevealed.com
Brianna recently posted…Why you (and your spouse) should attend a Marriage Encounter Weekend
Definitely!
*Love* these ideas! Teaching my children to be thankful for what they have is so important to me.
Melanie recently posted…Santa Shoebox 2015
Thanks. Hopefully you can find something that you can do this season!
What a great way to put action to your thankful list!!! <3
Susannah recently posted…Ten Things You Don’t Know About Me
I am always trying to figure out ways to put action to what we are learning. It helps us remember it so much better and enables us to live out our faith. Happy Thanksgiving!
I love this post. Such a fun way to make sure we are continually being thankful and blessing others. Such a great lesson for your kids to learn 🙂
Anna Harris recently posted…Restoration Hardware Shelving Hack
Thanks! I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving season and beyond!
Being thankful is a great way to pass on our values to our kids. We need to work on this more. This will be a great challenge for us to do this November!
Jonathan Key recently posted…Update a Key Page or Hot Post on Your Blog [Day 14 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog from Problogger]
That’s true. Adults need to work on this just as much as kids!
I love this especially number two! What an excellent idea! I am going to pitch it to the fam tomorrow over breakfast! 🙂
Cathy
Cathy recently posted…Minestrone Soup & Cheesy Garlic Tomato Bread