Season of Gratitude
I know I’m not alone in continually thinking, “how is it already November?” and “how are we already halfway through November??” This time of year always creeps up on me, partly because it comes right after our family’s birthday season.
That said, it’s one of my favorite times of the year. For the past 7 or 8 years, I’ve been on a mission to use this time of year to teach my children what it means to have an attitude of gratitude as well as live it myself. Out of that desire came our annual Jar of Thanks tradition.
During the month of November, I grab a vase, a giant stack of highlighter-colored 3x5 cards, and a pen and place it all on the kitchen counter. The idea is that each member of the family writes down what they are thankful for daily then places the card into the Jar of Thanks. We occasionally pull out a card and read it, but we mostly save them for our Thanksgiving celebration with family.
Similar to going around the table and sharing what you’re thankful for during Thanksgiving dinner, we pass the jar around (after our guests have had a chance to add some cards as well) and read each other’s thankful cards. Not only has it created some fun core memories - like when my kids coined the terms “Papa-glyphics” and “Steve-a-glyphics” after struggling to read the different handwriting styles - but it shows us all just how much we have to be thankful for.
There’s nothing like reading how thankful a child is for God, their parents, their grandparents, their siblings, their house, their neighborhood, their friends, and so on. While I often hear groans from my husband and children when they catch me fishing around the kitchen for the Jar of Thanks “ingredients”, we always wind up with a full jar and giant smiles when their names are mentioned in someone else’s card. And my heart is always so full hearing the thought everyone has put into their cards, especially the kiddos.
The act of purposefully thinking about what we have to be grateful for is transformative. So many times, I’ve had a rough day or am feeling stressed, but I’ll see the Jar of Thanks out and realize I haven’t written a card yet so I stop and refocus my mind on what I have to be thankful for. Every single time, my spirit is lifted and I feel so much better.
So, while the world around us is visibly preparing for Christmas-time, I encourage you to add having an attitude of gratitude to your daily to do list. And feel free to steal the Jar of Thanks idea.