Did you know the Bible tells us to give thanks 73 times? That’s a lot of repetition of a relatively simple command. In addition, the words thanks and thanksgiving appear in another hundred or so verses. Obviously our gratitude is important to God. He wants us to be grateful because it helps align our spirit with His. Arrogance, selfishness and other unchristian character traits are more difficult when one stays in a spirit of humble gratitude. Likewise, service, generosity and faith sharing are easier when you are grateful for the gifts God has given you.
Our world doesn’t encourage gratitude. Oh, we may hear people talk about it from time to time, but it’s really not a priority. Which is interesting. Even from a secular point of view, gratitude has been shown to have all sorts of benefits to physical and mental health.
Just like many of us have gotten into the habit of being ungrateful, we need to help our families develop the habit of gratitude. Thankfully, there are some fun things you can do to put your family in a gratitude mindset. Here are some of our favorites.
- Gratitude tablecloth. Find a plastic tablecloth light enough to write on clearly. Place padding underneath it so markers don’t bleed through to your table. Every time your family sits down to dinner (also a great Thanksgiving idea for extended family to join in), have everyone take a marker and write something new for which they are thankful. How long does it take to fill up the tablecloth? To keep from repeating, review previous entries before allowing anyone to write something new. This also serves as a reminder of how much your family has been given by God.
- Thanks jar or centerpiece. This is another idea that works well year around or at Thanksgiving. Find a pretty jar or bowl. Place beside it blank slips of paper and pens. Encourage everyone to write something on a slip for which they are grateful. You can make it a regular thing or just remind them when something happens to write a gratitude slip for it. Periodically, read all of the slips in the bowl and pray to God thanking Him for those blessings.
- Sidewalk thanks. If you live on a street with a sidewalk, take some chalk and write “Please tell us something for which you are thankful”. Be sure to write a few things yourself to get it started. Then leave a couple of sticks of chalk where people can see them, but not step on them and get hurt. You may even want to put a little container for them in the grass so people will return the chalk where it’s safe.
- Thank you treats. Make some muffins or cookies or other treats and bag them up with a short note of thanks. How many people can you thank with them? Can you focus on people who may normally be unseen by others, but should be thanked for everything they do?
- Thanks in many languages. This is a way to make saying thanks more interesting, because it can encourage more conversation if you thank someone in Czech! It also can be a way to think about those in the mission field who are often making sacrifices to serve others and teach them about Jesus.
- Thanks by color. This is a great way to teach young children how to thank God for His blessings in prayer. Cut out little slips of different colors of paper. Place them all in a little container. Encourage your children to take turns choosing a color and thanking God for something that is the same color as their slip of paper.
- Gratitude art journal. For those with young or artistic children, buy a journal that is meant for sketching. Place pencils and crayons beside it and put it where everyone will see it during the day. Encourage everyone to draw either something for which they are grateful or a depiction of their day and everything in it for which they are grateful.
- Pinterest thanks. Search for “volunteer thank you’s” and you will get tons of ideas you can use to create little thank you surprises for people.
- World record thanks. Challenge each other to see how many people you can thank in one day. It will be hard to keep count, but at the end of the day, celebrate by sharing some of the thank you stories and the reactions you got from people.
- Leftover candy thanks. If you are reading this close to Thanksgiving, you likely still have too much candy in your house. Get creative and tape a little punny thank you note to a piece and give it to someone. (ex. Reese’s – There are so many Reese-ons we are thankful for you!)
Have fun with it, but focus your family on gratitude. You may be surprised at the new blessings that come from being grateful for the ones you already have.