I have spent much of the last few months feeling stressed. I got to the point last month where I felt like I had been dished all I could take. I was done with the stress and anxiety.
As I’m sure most of you would agree, it’s tough to see blessings through the cloud of stress. I have had to mentally force myself to concentrate on the good things these last few weeks. And it really has made a difference.
This year, we (or should I say I?) made the decision to merge a yearly tradition to do a gratitude project of some sort during the month of November with two new ideas. First of all, the Fishful Thinking program has a Grateful Sayings poster that we did last Spring that I thought would be perfect for November. I’ve been saving it up. And then when I heard about Chocolate on my Cranium’s traditions to make a Thanks and Giving poster each year, I knew I had to make that adjustment.
So the kids and I set out to make our own Thanks and Giving – Grateful Sayings poster. We started out with two blank trees on a large poster board and lots of colorful leaves cut out of construction paper. The kids quickly filled up and covered the entire “Thanks” tree.
Note to self: Either we need smaller leaves next year or we need a bigger poster.
The “Giving” tree, full of ideas of service that they could give others, or ways that they could make other people, in and out of the family happy, required a little more effort, and the tree wasn’t quite so full, but they made some fabulous suggestions.
This exercise was a blaring reminder to me of all of the ways we continue to be blessed, even in times of trial. This year, more than any other, we have witnessed incredible acts of service on our behalf. It is humbling and miraculous. People are good.
Our list brought everything back to the basics. Among other things, the kids listed their faith, scriptures, family members (the individual mentions, rather than general “family” shout outs made me happy!), special toys, friends, talents, etc.
And my list goes something like this:
~I am grateful for a husband who works hard to support us and is dedicated to following a dream. I am grateful that our marriage has stayed strong through tough times, and that despite our stress and lack of time together, we still like each other.
~I am thankful for children who don’t complain. Who look out for each other, and sometimes even tired old Mommy. I am grateful that they have been healthy, that they are doing well in school. And I am thankful that they can still find many things to be thankful for, and that they don’t complain about what they don’t have.
~I am thankful for good friends who are supportive and patient with me.
~I am thankful for all of the people (anonymous and otherwise) who have helped us and supported us along our journey to start a new business.
~I’m thankful for this silly old blog to give me something to keep my mind focused on happy things. And I’m thankful everyday for the few people who stop by to read (and especially for those who take the time to leave a comment!)
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What are you most grateful for this year?
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The giving tree idea is such a great one! Congratulations on the new business!
thank you for this!!!! i just finalized my thankful blog=)
I LOVE your “Giving” Tree idea! I'm making a list of all the things I want to start once Madi's old enough- to write in sentences! :) Happy Thanksgiving! BTW- those videos above were ADORABLE!!!!
Wow Lolli. I think these projects were just amazing to do with the kids. You really made them think about what they have and what they can give, and I guess in doing so, you did the same for yourself! Hope you and yours have a wonderful thanksgiving!
Justine :o )
Adore your post.
God blesses us so much, sometimes, in my life, I've missed out on enjoying the blessings He's given me because I'm so busy thinking about something that's upsetting in my life. For me it's a matter of focus, where I choose to put my attention and how I choose to look at things.
I think it's a really cool experience to do this project with your children
Everything looks good on my end. Your disqus comment links to your blog, and you appeared in my blogfrog widget. I think you're ok!
Love your blog, your kids are adorable!! Let me know if this comment looks okay to you on blogfrog, I hope I was able to fix the link to my blog properly, too. Thanks for your help!!
I love that poster idea!
I am grateful that we are finally back home in PA with family. The holidays was one tie of the year that was really hard. Even though my sister visited after Thanksgiving and my mom was always with us at Christmas it was hard to be apart from them during family times!
Today, I would be grateful for a few hours to myself… away from everyone, but most likely that won't be happening!!!
I am Thankfull for all of my luck. I have a good husband, 4 great kids, 10 grandkids. I don't think I could say more than that.
Thank you God for all my blessings
Lolli,
I love your site! This is so awesome! Thank you for commenting on my site so I could discover yours. I love it!
I am grateful for our health. I am grateful for what we have (our home each other and cars that run). I am also grateful for my husband and his patience and charity! I am grateful for new friends and old friends too!