What Are You Grateful For?

Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It’d become too easy in our family to overlook everything we had to be grateful for and instead notice things we didn’t have. My husband and I decided it was time to change the attitude and atmosphere in our home from selfish to thankful.

“I’ve got an idea,” I told my kids one evening around the dinner table. “This month, let’s take a slip of paper each day and write down one thing we’re grateful for. We’ll make a chain and then read it on Thanksgiving.”

The kids agreed that it was a good idea, and as I passed slips of paper to each of them, I added, “The only rule is, you can’t say the same thing twice.”

As the month went on, we’d pass around slips of paper each day at dinner and then tape them to our growing chain that hung in the kitchen. On the morning of Thanksgiving, while we ate breakfast, we took the chain down and began to read through them together.

What started as a simple act of hoping to create a habit of gratitude within our family became my favorite holiday memory. I was in awe of the things my kids were grateful for—the sunrise, a sibling’s laugh, a shared treat, a smile someone gave them when they needed encouragement. They were the simplest of things and would have been quickly forgotten if not written down daily. It became a testament to the little joys we were grateful for each day and a tradition we’ve continued every year since.

We know that we are to give thanks for everything to God the Father, but how can we when we’re rushing through our days unaware of the smallest blessings? It takes intention to stop and notice all the little (and big) things, but it doesn’t take long to make it a habit. Once we do, it’s easy to see simple gifts we can thank God for.

Kendra

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Begin writing down one new thing you’re grateful for each day between now and Thanksgiving, and then spend some time reading through all the things you’ve noticed this month.