ThanksLIVING at Thanksgiving Time

When our children were growing up, we had a tradition that we carried out throughout the Thanksgiving season. We called it, "Expressing Our Thanks through ThanksLIVING" and then recording the results in our "Family Thanks Journal".

Here is how it worked: For 30 days before Thanksgiving, every evening, just before bed, we passed around to each member of our family, the "Thanks Journal" that my wife had created. We were to record something we were thankful for and additionally, we were to share some act of kindness that we would do or had done for someone else. It was a way of demonstrating our gratitude to and for them! Needless to say, we saw some real creativity unfold from within our family as Thanks LIVING was demonstrated in a very real way for Teachers, the Military, Family and Friends, people in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living.

Now that our children are grown, I'm impressed with the fact, that they haven't forgotten those moments of family time we spent together with the Thanks Journal. In fact, they are making sure it lives on within their family time, too!

Happy Thanksgiving!