November = Giving Thanks

As the holiday season amps up, the weather turns colder, and our schedules start to get even busier with more activities, it does seems like a good month to stop and give thanks. Maybe our country’s original settlers had the right idea - after working hard to bring in the harvest, to pause, to share a meal, to celebrate, to give thanks.

We are entering a season when I want to pause more, share more meals, celebrate more, be more thankful. But then reality creeps in and there is more work to be done, activities kids need to be schlepped to, appointments to be kept, presents to start planning for, and bills to be paid. Regular life makes the weeks go by even faster without the additional holiday activities on top of it all. So let’s push pause. We can pause and plan to not get on our laptop or phones after dinner and instead enjoy those around us. We can pause on the weekend and enjoy time with our kids instead of having a really clean house or perfect yard.

Our family is pretty consistent about having dinner together every night, but I’m thinking I can share a meal more often with others. We can work on inviting people over for a meal once in a while. Or maybe your goal this month can be to gather at the table more often with whomever is home.

It’s easy for me to celebrate birthdays and holidays - I grew up in a family that made a big deal of those days. But I don’t think I celebrate the little everyday things as much as I could. My teens might think I’m crazy, but I’m going to start asking at dinner "what things can we celebrate today? - what was a good thing that happened today?” Being able to celebrate the little things and being thankful for everyday things helps us cultivate thankfulness. It changes our attitude and mindset…and I could certainly use that year round.

In what ways do you think you’ll pause this month and be thankful?