The Thankful Tree

Yesterday my wife and I had the pleasure of spending some time with our oldest son, his lovely wife and our two granddaughters.  Before we left to go to their home I was thinking about some type of Thanksgiving project that we could work on together.  I was never much with arts and crafts and always left that up to my wife’s creative thinking!  But without that functioning resource at this time, I was left on my own so… I did the next best thing and Googled it on the internet!

One of the first ideas that I looked at was an activity called “The Thankful Tree Project.”  (http://www.simplyvintagegirl.com/blog/index.php/2010/11/27/the-thankful-tree/)  This group craft looked simple enough for me to understand, and fun enough for the kids to enjoy it, and it also came with a great message.  So I packed a few resources that we had around the house and figured that my daughter in law would have the rest amongst all the girl’s arts and crafts supplies.

Well, the project turned out to be a great success and possibly the beginning of a new family tradition for Thanksgiving!  Before dinner my son and the two girls along with my wife and I went outside their apartment and searched for just the right branches and leaves for the tree while Josh’s wife tended to the dinner preparations.  After a delicious meal we cleared the table and worked on the project.  We assembled the branches into the rough shape of a tree, punched a hole in each of the brightly colored leaves and passed some of them to everyone present.  Then we went around the table and in turn each of us took the sharpie and wrote down something that they were thankful for on a leaf before hanging it on the tree.  The project entails doing this each day up to Thanksgiving and then sharing all the thank you statements as we enjoy each other’s fellowship at the family feast during our holiday gathering.

Today I plan on texting the rest of the family in Oklahoma and North Carolina and have them team up with us by texting their regular installments of thanksgivings directly to Josh and Trinity so that they and the kids can physically add the out of state family’s cumulative thankful leaves to the tree.  Then as we gather at Josh’s on Thanksgiving, we can share the Thankful Tree with all of us through a conference call on Skype!  Ah… once again, the marvels of technology!  Even though we are physically thousands of miles apart, we can celebrate together!

This morning I was led to study some scriptures about giving thanks to God.  The references to these kinds of scriptures is pretty vast.  The God’s Word translation lists 60 scriptures that talk about the giving of thanks in the book of Psalms alone.  So I decided to just concentrate on few and see where the Lord led me.

Psalm 100:4 encourages us to “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and unto his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” (KJV)  In the New Testament a familiar verse tells us “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18 KJV)  Other similar NT verses include Ephesians 5:20 and Philippians 4:6.  As I meditated on the value of being thankful to Him in every circumstance, I suddenly understood how walking in this attitude of thanksgiving, in the midst of any and every situation we face, tends to keep our eyes on Him and His answers rather than on the problem.

Over the last few years it has become very clear to me how some people just love to point out the obvious problems when they see the battle we are fighting.  You know what?  Their pessimism is NOT what my wife and I need!  It is NOT helpful.  It is NOT encouraging but instead can be very discouraging.  It carries a bundle of fear, lacks Godly love and is void of any touch of faith.  They are NOT the people that I want to be around!  I want to be around people who have a vision of God’s love, His abilities and His grace.  These are the people who tend to thank God in all circumstances.  Their eyes are focused on God’s promises.

The Sermon Bible Commentary states that I Thessalonians 5:18 “seems to suggest that gratitude is to overflow into every action of life – thanks giving and thanks living.”   Living with a thankful heart keeps us in the realm of His answers and makes the problems we face to be but a mere trifle in His hands!  Revelation 11:17 says that “we give thanks to thee, Lord God almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun ruling as king.” (God’s Word ©)  When we live a lifestyle of continual thankfulness it keeps us in position for Jesus to rule as king in, over and through our lives. 

Sounds like the right place to be… doesn’t it?  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting to be THANKFUL for today?”