Have you ever thought about how much more time is spent preparing a Thanksgiving spread and cleaning up afterward, than sitting at the table and eating it?
What if I offered you a remedy of amazing proportion to hold your family and friends around the table just a little bit longer?
Oh, my little (in)courage friends, I have a solution that’s almost too good to be true...except it’s time-tested in our family, so I know it works! If you are interested in:
- Establishing a tradition that has cross-generational appeal
- Fostering thankfulness as a way of life, not a once-a-year holiday
- Encouraging intentional gratitude
- Generating fun conversation and a lot of laughter
- Providing an atmosphere that is so entertaining, football fans will almost forget there are games to be watched
Then you must get a Thankful Box. The actual vessel is insignificant; it’s what is inside that counts.
The Thankful Box can be used a number of ways. When I made ours, my thought was to have the box placed in a conspicuous location, where everyone in my family could jot down reasons they were thankful throughout the year; on Thanksgiving Day, we’d open the box and read each slip of paper aloud…and remember why we have so much for which to be thankful.
Oh the best laid plans {s i g h}; I think we might have had a better shot at my “ideal” had I begun this when my children were younger (them, dictating and me recording their “thanks”).
As it turned out, on the days just prior to Thanksgiving and as late as that morning, I had everyone write down (including visiting extended family) at least ONE reason they were thankful; it was their ticket into lunch.
They took me seriously and no one wrote down just one reason.
After lunch, we began with the Reading of The Thankful Poem (hokey, yes, but part of the tradition). Each person retrieved a slip of paper out of the box, read it aloud, and we all guessed who had written it; there were so many “thanksgivings,” the box went around the table multiple times.
“Thanks” ranged from spiritual and profound (creation, Truth) to the simple things we take for granted (food/shelter/toilet paper).
It was wonderful.
Your turn: For fun, why not make your own Thankful Box? There are no right or wrong ways to construct one; glitter and tissue paper go a long way in transforming a shoe box :).
If you do, will you email a picture or link to pictures (now or anytime in the future–I’ll get an email alert!)?
Also, I’m curious…What traditions or means you’re using to foster grateful hearts in your family? I’m sure (in)courage readers are just as eager to hear your ideas. Don’t be shy–let us know in comments!
ABOUT ROBIN DANCE
In a scandalous, decades-long affair with her husband, Robin also confesses mad crushes on her three teens. She’s Southern as sugar-shocked tea and advocates talking to strangers, creative...
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Robin, I love this! I clicked back through all your posts. Enjoyed your comments next to some of the thankful thoughts! (Especially the one about the children trying to get in good with their teacher…LOL!…and the comments about the Fall.)
I’m not very creative, but even the Dollar Store sells pretty decorated boxes now, and as you said, the actual vessel is insignificant.
What a wonderful new idea to add to our family traditions. Thanks so much.
Blessings,
Joy
Robin – that is such a GREAT idea! I love it – and my wheels are spinning about getting it done for this year. Thanks for sharing your lovely Thanksgiving box.
A few years ago, I started our thankful tree tradition. We use a wooden tree (that I got on Halloween clearance and painted brown), then write something we are thankful for on a leaf every day in November. We stick the leaf to the tree. The first year, I had to write it for my daughter. But last year and this year, she can write on her own. Here’s a link to it: http://sixgoldencoins.blogspot.com/2009/11/thankful-tree-2009.html
I like the thankful box idea too, since it would have to involve more of our family members!
We have a Blessings Box –same thing, really– and our box looks a LOT like yours :) I’m looking forward to filling it up with my family. Thank you!
That is a great idea Robin! I had been thinking that our family should really start making the discipline of being thankful as a daily part of life. After all…..we have so much to be thankful for! Thanks for the idea!
Great post, Robin! This is something so close to my heart right now. I am looking for every opportunity to instill gratitude into my kiddos.
I actually wrote about something very similar today. Our Thankful Tree…
http://asoftplace.net/2009/11/a-thankful-tree/
And I added a link to your post from mine. Love it!
Kimba
Clearly, I added a link from my post to yours. Not the other way around. {snort}
What a beautiful idea!
In our family Friday evening is a special night of quiet, worship, soup n’ bread, candles, pillows on the floor and time together. We have a blessing book (just a simple journal) in which we write down everyone’s “thankfuls” for the week past. Big stuff like getting refund checks at the right moment, near misses on the freeway, little stuff like yummy peaches on sale or our happy family, a favorite teacher.
We have kept this book (multiple volumes) for most of our marriage (17 yrs). It is a treasured posession. We reread back through the years for the curent date from time to time–what surprises of God’s grace and mercy in our lives.
On Thanksgiving Day we write 3 lists in the book–People, Places and Events that have most impacted us in the year past. Wow!
Thanks for the little reminders on this page.
I am definitely going to do this! What a great idea!
wonderful idea! thank you so much for sharing with us!
I love this idea, Robin!!
Joy, Thank you :). If this becomes a tradition for your family, I would love to hear some of the responses. Thankfulness breeds thankfulness and it blesses me to think a little idea I had might become meaningful for someone else. Your encouragement was a bright spot in my day!
A few years ago I bought a table runner and a colored fabric pen. Throughout the day family and guests at our thanksgiving table write what they are tahnkful for on it. Then people get to read all the comments. Every year i get a new colored fabric marker and people write there many thanks. Now we have many different colors on that runner and many memoreis of what we have been thankful for throughout the years!
Oh, Debbie, I LOVE words with ALL CAPS! :) If you do this and happen to write about it/post pictures, please let me know :). (Or come back and tell me or SOMETHING!)
Now THIS is a fabulous idea, Elizabeth! I hope youre sharing your link all over the bsphere so EVERYONE can try their version of this! Homemade seasonal decor is so special, much more so than very expensive store-bought lovies.
lol, you have me wondering if thats what inspired my idea! I dont think Ive ever compared the two before. Blessings and reasons to be thankful? Yep, they go hand in hand :).
Its a simple way to nurture this character trait in your children. :)
Kimba,
I didnt do this when my kids were younger, but I was intentional about training them with a thankful heart. Now, as teens, they really are grateful for what others do for them (the big and the small). All that effort when they were young paid off :). And THANKS for sharing your link…and mine back at your place! :)
Wow, Cinda Lea…w o w.
What a precious tradition–all of it. Im stunned. Seventeen years of journaling thanks. THAT is a treasure; you sound like youve got a pretty special family :). Thank you so much for sharing!
Goodie Goodie Goodie! Please try to share a link if you ever write about it after the fact!! :)
:) Thanks, always, for checking in Jen!
:) Merci!
I LOVE your idea! Im sitting here thinking it might be a fun thing to do w/our family this year. Its a great way to involve everyone, too–thanks for chiming in!
Oh Robin, I LOVE this idea! I want to do this! (Quickly assessing whether or not I can pull this off at Thanksgiving Dinner at the in-law’s house. Hmmm.)
Thanks!!
Thank you so much for this wonderful idea. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out a way to make our Thanksgiving Day more about thankfulness and less about the food. We are having family over that we don’t see very often, so the Thankful Box is a great way to encourage deeper conversation and to truly get a glimpse of each person’s heart. I think your idea is an answer to a prayer that I just prayed with my son tonight- that God would open our eyes to the ways we can make Thanksgiving special and ways we can serve. I think offering this new tradition will be a way we can serve our extended family just by ministering to them. My aunt just recently lost her son unexpectedly. I hope God will use this new, borrowed tradition to comfort and encourage her. Thank you!!
Some time ago, I really needed to buy a building for my firm but I did not have enough cash and couldn’t buy something. Thank goodness my mother proposed to try to take the loans at reliable bank. So, I did so and was happy with my term loan.