Gratitude. A simple concept, yet it is such a challenge. The state of our hearts is almost as tumultuous as our news feed. Everywhere we look, we are met with something new and shiny to desire. "Buy this, and you'll be happy," "watch this and you'll be smarter," "click here and you'll feel satisfied..."
Of course, the truth is that those things can never satisfy: our eyes never get their fill of seeing and our ears never get their fill of hearing. The more we chase the quick fix, the less satisfied we become. We can really only find true peace when we quiet our noisy souls and fill our hearts with gratitude instead of greed.
How amazing that we live in a country where we can literally spend an entire day with our loved ones focusing on thankfulness. What a gift! I encourage you to embrace Thanksgiving this year. Truly turn the day into a time of refocusing on your many blessings. As moms, we are responsible for setting the tone in our family, and during the holidays, we have an extra special opportunity to encourage mindfulness.
To help you along that path, I have prepared a Thanksgiving prayer printable that is completely free to download.
I hope it helps your family recenter the day on God, giving thanks where thanks are due.
I also created a Thanksgiving word find (you could make it a race if your children are older) that includes words of gratitude. It could be helpful to go through the definition of each word with your family to remind everyone what it really means to be thankful!
Thanksgiving can be a special time for your family. Don't be afraid to rope your loved ones into conversations that go a little deeper this year. If you think they may need to be warmed up a bit first, send them my recent post about Manners 😂
Joking, of course!
I know it has been a
hard year for everyone. I honestly never really knew what anxiety felt like until March, when I laid awake into the wee hours of the night reading to find out what new horrors our governor had in store for us. I couldn't believe my kids would be pulled out of school. I was really not ready to homeschool! I love my kids to bits, but I do not really have the temperament
of a teacher. It was a hard year... It still is! But we can rest assured that our Heavenly Father is good. His promises are true. And honestly, I have been absolutely amazed at the things He has accomplished through all this chaos. My women's Bible study group has been doing a study this fall that really helped encourage me. The author of the study reworked his ideas into a book, so it is a little more easily digestible.
I highly recommend it if you are in need of encouragement!
May you see God's hand during this Thanksgiving season!
