FAITHFUL FOOTPRINTS - November

Thanksgiving Blessing Tree

This Thanksgiving, create a "Thanksgiving Blessing Tree" with your family to reflect on and express gratitude for the blessings in your lives. Here's how you can do it:

Materials Needed:

1. Small branches or twigs

2. A vase or pot

3. Construction paper or cardstock

4. Markers, colored pencils, or crayons

5. Scissors

6. String or ribbon

7. Hole punch

Instructions:

1. Gather Your Branches:

• Go for a walk with your family to collect small branches or twigs. Choose ones with many branches and little leaves (if you can find any through the snow).

2. Create Your Blessing Leaves:

• Cut out leaf shapes from construction paper or cardstock. These will be your "blessing leaves.”

• Read Psalm 100:4: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name" and explain that one way to praise God is by acknowledging and appreciating the blessings in our lives.

• On each leaf, have family members write or draw something they are thankful for. Encourage everyone to think of blessings both big and small.

3. Punch Holes and String Your Leaves:

• After creating your blessing leaves, punch a hole at the top of each one.

• Thread a piece of string or ribbon through the hole and tie a knot at the end.

4. Assemble Your Blessing Tree:

• Place the branches or twigs in a vase or pot, making them stand up like a tree.

• Tie the other end of the string or ribbon from each blessing leaf to a branch, hanging them like ornaments.

5. Thanksgiving Devotional:

• Place your tree on your dining room table and each evening before dinner, pick one leaf to praise God.

6. Prayer of Gratitude:

• Guide them in turning their expressions of gratitude into simple prayers. For example, if a child has family written on their leaf, they could say, "Thank you, God, for my family. I love them, and I'm grateful for the time we spend together."

This Thanksgiving Blessing Tree will serve as a visual reminder of the many reasons your family has to be grateful. As the tree fills up with blessings, it will become a beautiful representation of what God is doing in your lives.