Thanksgiving week of Gratitude

As we’ve written about in the past, we love Thanksgiving. We love taking time to pause and think of all the things we’re grateful for.

Last year we followed a tip we’d heard about and got a big roll of cash register tape to write down things we’re thankful for. We started writing on it while on our drive to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. But the half hour drive wasn’t nearly enough time to get it all down.

At first we just spewed random thoughts of things we’re thankful for while mom tried to keep up with the writing. Then after a bit we decided to put some order to it and challenge ourselves at the same time. We decided to go in alphabetical order and first think of things that started with the letter “A”. After some time doing that, we moved on to the “B”s.

We thought it was great way to think a little harder about what we’re thankful for. I don’t recall what letter we got to, but I don’t think we got past “G” on that drive. But while we had great thoughts of keeping it going, after Thanksgiving day was over, the determination to finish the list waned. Of course, we don’t think we can ever really “finish” such a list because one thought of gratitude will often spill into another.

The only way to get further in our list then is to start early. Rather than just dedicate a day of Thanksgiving, why not make it a week of Thanksgiving?

We know it isn’t a new idea to express thanksgiving long before the day. And we’ve seen Facebook posts from some of our friends that are posting a thought of Thanksgiving ever day during November. After all, we plan for Christmas day long before the actual day. So why not do the same with Thanksgiving?

Actually, we believe that most people do.

The majority of people we know are people with a belief in God. And as believers we’ve made prayer a key part of our lives and our family life. As such, we’re daily offering our gratitude for a myriad of things. And even while not drawn out in prayer, we try to keep a prayer in our heart throughout the day.

Living in Thanksgiving daily is an fundamental part of living a happy life.

So make the most of Thanksgiving this week, but also remember to keep those grateful thoughts in your heart every day.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!