Thanks - Giving

Thanks - GIVING

Psalm 107:1
"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Is this week, actually in just a few days. I have the turkey laid out thawing and all the guest invited to our first Thanksgiving in our new home. All the menu has been planned and bought for too.

But what does it mean - THANKSGIVING?

Every year we do a thankful tree. To help my kids realize all the things they have in daily life to be thankful for. Some days they really melt my heart with the things they have thought of through out the day to add to the tree. Other days I have actually had to control my tongue not to discourage what they have to be thankful for! 

This is our first year keeping a journal. I've asked each of us, even hubby and myself to keep a journal this year with each day's thankful thought! My smallest hates to write so I've asked him to write his word each day and then just draw something about it. I have really enjoyed on a personal level seeing what my husband is thankful for. I've really been able to see that heart that is tucked away sometimes to the wonderful compassion and Godly love that's in there. I was told that he enjoyed seeing my thoughts too. However they have been very different from his and that's just an example of how different we are personally to make a great family together. Being a like would sure be boring!

This is our Thankful Tree this year.

The kids journals are on the table too.

I want to share some of their thoughts that really touched my heart.

DS1(he's 12) - My Brother

(his writing from his journal)

My brother gets on my nerves a lot but then sometimes I get on his too. When we get alone I understand that I should cherish moments that we get together. We get to live in one house, under the same roof. A lot of families have brothers that go to there parents houses while there sisters are at a different house.(he's talking about my brothers children, they are a split-up family) When we are adults we won't get to spend as much time together and we wont play. Mom gets to see Andy often but Dad don't see his brother at all. I love Zac and we are good friends. I think he loves me too.

DS2(7)

He was happy on this day for "Happiness".

He's also been happy for alone time with momma and daddy, the Bible, his toy trucks, his warm bed... etc.

DD(9)

I'm going to be totally honest on this. I'm a little concerned with her heart. She has had a very hard time every day coming up with things to be thankful for! I've told her there isn't a right or wrong answer but she hasn't been able to do this without some help almost daily. So here are a few things from her thankful journal:

Anamals 

(yes i know its spelled wrong but thats how she spelled it)

They are good friends. I like playing with them. My favorite is to cuddle with them. You can also eat some kinds. 

Fruit

There juicy, taste great. They are healthy for you. They grow on trees and bushes for you to pick which is fun. Its Gods dessert that he gave us.

Mamal Bell

(again spelled wrong)

She gives me hugs and kisses. Loves me bunches. She is always so silly and plays. She helps people that need it. She helps feed people at the soup kitchen. I love it when she sings for me. 

My husband wrote this one day:

Memories

I am glad that I can look back on my life and have memories. Some memories I created are negative and I regret that I let these happen. There are many positive memories that I have and it is so nice to think back early in our marriage and the fun we had. It is hilarious to think about our babies as they have grown. The hardest memory is from leaving our home we raised them in. There are way to many memories from there. I have the relief in knowing that I can learn from the bad memories and never let them happen again.My mission in life is to honor and cherish my time with my wife and kids.  I want to bring honor to God. He is opening new doors for us and I am sure there will be many more great memories soon.

(getting to see his journal has been awesome)

I'm going to share one of my journal entries too!

My favorite and most thankful thing in my life is Forgiveness.

I'm so thankful for forgiveness. Forgiveness from family, friends, my husband, kids - anyone really but especially my God and Savior. By Gods grace and knowing that I'm forgiven of all bad and stupid things I've done helps me have enough peace to get through out the day. It helps me also be able to give that forgiveness to others in need of it. I see how easy it is for my God to forgive me and I should express that same to others. God has been awesome and perfect enough to forgive me so I must forgive others. 

I hope you think about the things your thankful for this Thanksgiving season. 

I was once told that if you wake up tomorrow, with only the things you thanked God for yesterday, what would you have?

That has stuck with me more than anything else that was ever told to me. If that doesn't make you think then please pray so that your heart can understand what your blessings are friend.

With Thanksgiving of course we want to be thankful but what about the giving part?

It's important to me to help show God's love through service opportunities. My grandmothers church does a lot for the community and so when she asked if we would like to help deliver meals for Thanksgiving I jumped upon the opportunity.

My kids, Grandmother and I delivered 21 meals to elderly shut ins Monday. This was a huge blessing to our hearts. My grandmother was the navigator to the houses, she's getting older and walking is difficult for her but she is great at telling me what to do lol!! So I drove and the kids and I took turns giving the meals. Zac (DS2) even got a kiss from little old woman. She was so sweet.

Service is something our kids need to learn about!

 That's DS1.

This was DD and my grandmother because she needed to tell this sweet lady that was getting the meal something special!

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I would also like to say thank you to all that voted for me on the HSBA homeschooling awards! I did indeed win Best Blog Design! Thanks for voting and to whom ever nominated me. My blog was designed by Tracey at Little Bitty Design Studio! She is a real sweetheart and always has been awesome to help and change anything I've asked.