Day 17~Taming the Thanksgiving Madness – The Blessings Box
Every week on Sunday evenings, my family and I sit down and write out (or, for the little people among us, draw a picture of) the things we are thankful for in the past week. We write them out on small strips of paper and then we take turns going around the table to read out loud what we are praising the Lord for that week.
This has always been so much fun, but what is also a delight to the heart is to dig deep in the box and pull out really old notes and see what each of the children said years ago. Sometimes it is something funny, other times it is so precious that it brings back a flood of memories (and sometimes, tears).
Some of the blessings we have recorded are:
My inlaws had a safe trip to visit us; and for new friends. —Me
I’m thankful for the closeness of our family because of our hearts being at home. —My husband
Daddy. Brownies. —A little friend whose family joined us for dinner
Cookies; and cookies and milk. —My little one with the sweet tooth!
I’m thankful for everything that God gave me and this whole house and all of you and my friends. —My son, age 5.
More nausea; the fruit of the womb. —Me, when I was a few weeks pregnant with my daughter
Our Blessings Box is starting to overflow, so we are going to spend an afternoon this week making a new, larger one. You don’t need to make one, necessarily, but it does add to the fun for the littles in our crew.
We are going to follow the example of Kim at Weaving a Tapestry. Look at these beautiful boxes she decorated:
Every week, when we do this little ritual that has become one of our most favorite traditions, I wonder how much more fun it will be when we have grandchildren around our table who get to read to notes their parents (my children) wrote when they were little. What fun that will be!
What family traditions does your family have that help you think of all the ways you have been blessed? What other ways does your family focus on resting and being grateful on Sundays, especially during the holiday season?
I wanted my children to grow up with thankful hearts. When they were very tiny we started “thank-you prayers” every night everyone in the family prayed a 1 sentence prayer thanking God for something that day – copy-cating wasn’t allowed! (We’ve been blessed with 7 children
The prayers range from very sweet to hilarious!
We begin our favorite holiday activity with Advent – we read one of Arnold Ytreeide’s wonderful stories and make a Christmas chain out of strips of red, white and green paper – each evening our “thank you prayers” are written out on a strip of paper and added to the chain. By the time Christmas has arrived we have a long chain decorating one wall of our family room reminding us of the many, many things we have to be thankful for!
Our Christmas blessings.