Thanksgiving traditions

This past weekend in our gatherings, Alex Absalom and I shared several traditions that may help make the Thanksgiving holiday  even more meaningful.  Throughout the week, as I asked people if they had any Thanksgiving traditions, I received some fascinating answers:  ”We do our best just to not fight on Thanksgiving,”  ”We’re a young family–we don’t have any traditions yet,”  ”We eat, drink, watch football and sleep.”  You get the drift.  So, here’s a list of activities/reflections that will hopefully help us all give thanks to the Giver of every good thing.

*Before eating, stand around your dinner table in a circle.  Take turns sharing something you are thankful for from the past year. (Even small children can participate in this one.)

*On Thanksgiving morning, call people who are in your life and tell them you are thankful for them (each call should be only 1-3 minutes–or hey, talk as long as you like!).

*Read a Psalm about giving thanks.  You can do this alone or with friends and family.  Psalm 100 is a great start.

*Invite someone over.  You will be amazed at how many people have no plans for Thanksgiving.

*Bake an extra pie and deliver it to a neighbor, a shut-in, a co-worker.

*Help your children or grandchildren or neighbor children make hand print turkeys on construction paper.  Write a thankful note on the back of each handprint and give them to neighbors, family and friends.

*Cover your dinner table with a white paper table cloth.  Have lots of crayons on the table as well.  Encourage everyone to draw a picture of something for which they are thankful.

*Lots of churches deliver Thanksgiving meals on Thanksgiving Day.  Be a “deliverer.”

*Sit down at some time on Thanksgiving Day and make a list of things for which you are thankful.  Thank God.

What Thanksgiving ideas or traditions, can you share with the rest of us?