Thankful Thursday

This November I am making an effort to put feet to our thankfulness by creating acts of gratitude for our family to participate in. Really this is something I want to make a more regular part of our life, not just something that we think of seasonally. After all, thankfulness and gratitude are qualities I want to model and grow in my children as well as see continue to grow in my own life. Let me share what we have been doing this week to show those around us that we are thankful for them.

I started by giving my boys a project. I asked them each to pick one person outside of our household that they were most thankful for. I talked abut how it is important to show thankfulness to the people inside of our house but that we practice that on a regular basis so I wanted them to think outside of that to someone they may not take the opportunity to thank as often. Once they decided on a person, I gave them supplies to make a card and encouraged them to write out (or dictate to me what to write out) words of thankfulness. Jordan chose his teacher and Isaiah chose one of his grandma's. Nathan chose not to participate and while understandably disappointing, we honored his choice and encouraged him to think of his own way to show his thankfulness to someone. We will continue to model these actions and pray that they speak to his heart and inspire him to do the same in a way that makes sense to him.

The act of thankfulness we chose as a family was actually repaying a family that had blessed us numerous times when we had the twins. We had been talking about ways to bless them in return and I strongly felt God leading us to specifically follow through on a date with dinner. We ordered pizza for our family and their's (thank you Papa John's for 50% off every time the Seahawks win which made it possible to feed two families for the price of one!) and when we called to tell them we would be bringing it by they shared that it was an answered prayer as the mom of the family had hurt her back the night before and could use help with dinner. It also happened that her injury fell on pizza night and they ended up missing out on it so the kids were extra excited by our delivery. Doesn't God work in such fun ways?

There are more fun things in the works already so you'll have to come back next week to see what we have been up to. And not that this necessarily needs to be said, but I hope my heart for these posts is clear. It isn't about bragging about what my family has done but instead is meant as an encouragement and a resource for ideas that might get your family involved in acts of thankfulness. If you are already ahead of me and have some great ideas you are willing to share, I would love to hear what you've been up to. It's the best part of writing this....getting to share what I do and hopefully learn a little bit about what you do too. Don't be shy!

Pass on the Thanks Challenge

This last week I was inspired by a fellow blogger's idea to do a Thank You Card Week. She is spending 4 days giving a tutorial on several easy homemade thank you cards. I love this because so many people are intimidated by making their own cards when it really doesn't have to be difficult or complex. I really think that the act of sending thank you cards is dying out and that saddens me. I for one know how much I love receiving something in the mail other than bills. It is even more special when that something is a nice sentiment from a family member, friend, or acquaintance.

This led me to come up with the Pass on the Thanks Challenge. The first part of this challenge is to think up 3 people who make your life better or easier. Can you do more than 3? Of course! The more thanks the better.  I encourage you all to get creative when brainstorming who to send this to. Whether it be a barista who makes your day better by preparing your daily latte with a smile or a co-worker who does more than their share and makes your job easier. The possibilities are really limitless. The second part involves finding or making some thank you cards. I really do love homemade cards, and you can get some great ideas all week at Small Fry & Co, but the important part of all of this is the sentiment. So whether it is store bought, homemade or written on a spare piece of paper the important part is that you do it. The third part of this is encouraging those you are sending the cards to to do the same. So somewhere in your card hand write or print off something like this:

Pass on the Thanks Challenge

If you received this card and it brightened your day,

I would challenge you to come up with 3 people who make your life better 

and send them each a thank you card. It doesn't have to be fancy, it's the thought that counts.

Before sending the cards make sure to tell them about this challenge. Let's see how far this can go!

Want to share your experience? Visit http://chrystal-lewis.blogspot.com and tell your story.

That last part goes for all of you as well! I would love for you to come back and share pictures of your cards and stories about how this challenge effected you and those who you chose to pass it on to. I would love to feature your stories in some upcoming posts. A little thanks can go a long way, let's see how far this can go!

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Here are the cards I made (this took me maybe 45 minutes total...but I also like to browse the dollar section at places like Michael's for packs of cheap cards so you are not alone if you choose to go that route:)

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HUGE Giveaway!!

Do you like free stuff? Do you like LOTS of free stuff? No...okay, never mind.

Wait, what's that? Oh, you DO love free stuff. Me too! So I just had to share this amazing giveaway from my friend and fellow blogger. Courtney is a photographer who recently started her own business, Small Beginnings Photography, and is doing a HUGE giveaway on her blog in honor of Valentine's Day. While the majority of the stuff being given away is only for those in the Spokane, WA area there is also a runner's up prize pack available to anyone so it is definitely worth checking out. There are tons of local vendors and small business participants so this is a great way find some new places to shop and support the small business owner.

Oh, did I mention that there is something by yours truly in the giveaway? I contributed a 10 pack of homemade all-occasion cards that are included in the grand prize.

So what are you waiting for, get on over there and check it out!

http://smallbeginningsphoto.blogspot.com/2011/02/its-here-big-valentines-day-giveaway.html