Here in the Grigoryev household, we feel that being thankful to God for His blessings is something really really important. More important than a quick prayer over Thanksgiving dinner, and definitely more important than football or Black Friday. Not that there's anything wrong with those things, it's just that we feel like being thankful should be a regular part of every day, and sometimes it's good to remember clearly everything that has transpired or been given over the last year in particular. Which is why we've instituted the tradition of the Tree of Thanks.
Every year I make a tree out of paper, and cut out lots of blank leaves from fall colored paper (this year we used tempera paint to make mottled, fairly realistic colors). Each day each person in our family thinks of something specific that they're thankful for, and writes it down on the leaf. Then we put it onto our tree. As you can see it starts out pretty sparse, but by the end of the month it's as full of things we're thankful for as our life is of God's blessings.
It's just one of the ways that we try to teach our children about the things in life that matter. It's difficult at times to do this when everything around us is so commercial, so frenzied and so busy. But we try to let them know that without a grateful heart possessions are absolutely meaningless and become a weight rather than a blessing. I think they understand it pretty well for their ages, too.
So, what are you thankful for today?
3 comments:
Today I am thankful for ballet! I have class on Mondays and it is such a nice treat.
Nice idea! I could definitely see my 4 yr old enjoying and benefitting from something like this.
AnneMarie @ Gen X Quilters
I'm thankful forrrrrrrrrrr.......friends. cliche, but people are what matters! Nice tree, I like the idea and am interested in seeing their results! p.s will i see you on the 8th or 9th?
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