Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to WE Christmas! The next thirty-four days are designed to help you grow in your relationship with God and with others.

God Says 

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. –Ephesians 5:20 

Something to Think About 

Don’t spoil what you have by spending so much time and energy desiring what you don’t have. Thanksgiving is God’s plan for our lives. It closes doors of jealousy, resentment, greed, and discontentment. It opens doors of grace, joy, peace, generosity, and love. Thanksgiving is a lifestyle and not a single act. It is the way we think, speak, and act. It is also the single best way to start the seasons of Advent and Christmas: grateful, content, and loved. 

Individual or Family Activity 

Spend some time creating a list of things you are thankful for. Try to think of at least a dozen people or things or events or experiences. Think about or explain to others why you are thankful for what you are thankful for. 

Individual or Family Prayer for Thanksgiving Day 

Dear God, 

Create in me a thankful heart.
Develop in me a grateful mind.
Give me an appreciative spirit. 

I confess feelings of jealously toward the actions of others.
I confess feelings of envy toward the possessions, attributes, and skills of others.
I confess feelings of greed that have caused ungratefulness in my life. 
Create in me a thankful heart. 

I have focused on what I don’t have rather than what I do have.
I have taken for granted many of your blessings.
I have wanted more than I have needed.
Create in me a thankful heart. 

For Your fellowship
For my family
For my friends
I give you thanks. 

For a warm bed to sleep and good food to eat
For clean water to drink and a clear mind to think
For comfortable clothes to wear and a life to share 
I give you thanks. 
For your grace for my mistakes
For your power when I am weak
For your love when I am alone
I give you thanks. 

For your presence and promise in times of grief and trials 
For your hope and light in days of despair and darkness
For creating the unique person I am
I give you thanks. 

For laughter and smiles and hugs and most tears
For the ability to embrace and to be embraced
For recovery, restoration, repair, and reconciliation
I give you thanks. 

Give me an appreciative spirit.
Develop in me a grateful mind.
Create in me a thankful heart. 

Amen.