I love everything about Thanksgiving! I love going to church in the morning, the smell of the turkey roasting in the oven all day, eating it along with the stuffing, sweet and mashed potatoes, vegetables, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream! Most of all, I love gathering around the dinner table with my family to give thanks to God for His immeasurable blessings. After we’ve enjoyed our Thanksgiving feast, we have a family tradition of going around the table from the youngest member to the oldest, and each person shares three things for which they are thankful. We encourage everyone to do their best to come up with something different to thank Him for than what was stated by the person– or people–who preceded them. You may wish to do this or something similar to this for your family.
Another idea is a twist on that one. It is this: To go around the table and focus upon different aspects of God’s character for which you are thankful. This would be acknowledging God and being thankful to Him for Who He is, not just thanking Him for the gifts He has given to you. A great way to do that might be to go down the alphabet and start by sharing an attribute of God that starts with A, then B, then C, and all of the way down through the whole alphabet. The following is just a sample list of His attributes that you could share. I encourage you to be creative and come up with as many other attributes on your own as you can. Or, you may just wish to incorporate all or a portion of the list below in your Thanksgiving prayer to God. The main goal is to make sure that we as His children keep our focus upon God this Thanksgiving, the One from whom ‘all blessings flow’!
A= Alpha and Omega (the Beginning and the End)
B= Beautiful beyond description
C= Compassionate
D= Deliverer
E= Everlasting
F= Faithful
G= Gracious
H= Holy
I= Infinite
J=Just
K=‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’
L=Love (Loving)
M=Merciful
N= Name above all Names
O= Omnipotent, omniscient
P=Prince of Peace
Q=Quiets our soul
R=Redeemer
S=Sovereign
T=Truth
U=Unchanging
V=Victorious
W=Wise (Wisdom)
X= He “x’s” out—or crosses out all of my sin
Y=Yahweh (‘I Am”)
We would love to hear from you whether you use this way of thanking God to celebrate this Thanksgiving (or even during your Christmas celebration), as well as to hear about any other Thanksgiving or Christmas traditions you have that you’d like to share.
We are incredibly thankful for the gift of you in our lives, and we thank you for supporting our ministry with your prayers and financial support. May your Thanksgiving be extra blessed as you keep your eyes, mind, and heart fixed upon God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17)—Who gave us the greatest gift of all—His beloved son Jesus!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, and love in Him Who makes us one,
Julie and Jamie