Easy Ways To Share Gratitude This Thanksgiving

 

Thanksgiving Day elicits a bounty of wonderful memories for many people in the U.S. The crisp air. The smell of a turkey roasting and a pumpkin pie baking. The sound of a cheering crowd at a football game. All these can create warm feelings during this special time of year.

While the Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the U.S., thanking God for our blessings is a spiritual discipline that should not be limited to a single day. Along with expanding our waistlines, our preparation for and celebration of the holiday can be the impetus toward growing an attitude of gratitude that will carry over into the rest of the year. In his commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, John Wesley writes, “Thanksgiving is inseparable from true prayer; it is almost essentially connected with it.” Giving thanks is as essential to our spiritual growth as prayer, which 1 Thessalonians calls us to do continually. These creative ideas will help us get started this Thanksgiving.

  • Fill a family Thanksgiving box. As part of your Thanksgiving preparation, create a Thanksgiving Box. Each day family members write on slips of paper something for which they are thankful that day and place them in the decorated box. The box will make a nice Thanksgiving table centerpiece, and when opened, a way to remember how blessed we are every day. You could add to it all year too of course.
  • Serve someone. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, many agencies serving those in need expand their work. Food banks, churches, and other service organizations supply meals to the hungry on Thanksgiving. Centenary United Methodist Church in Los Angeles holds a sleepover for their youth called the “turkey lock-in.” On the night before Thanksgiving the youth prepare, and the next day, deliver meals to people in the community who will be alone on Thanksgiving. Ask your pastor for suggestions of places near you to serve or donate.
  • Take time for quiet reflection. As the big day approaches, things get busier. Set aside some time each day to say thank you to God for all he has provided. “A Morning Prayer of Thanksgiving” by The Rev. Dr. LaGretta Bjorn is a great start.
  • Make a Thanksgiving frame. As you and your family reflect on those things for which you are thankful, compile a list. A few days before Thanksgiving, neatly transfer the list onto a piece of paper you can then insert into a frame for a beautiful expression of gratitude to decorate your home.
  • Invite someone new to dinner. Athens First United Methodist Church invites international students from the University of Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with their members. The students enjoy spending time away from campus and in family homes. Explore ways to invite those who may be alone or far from family to celebrate with you on the holiday.
  • Share blessings together. When gathered around the table, many families will ask guests to share something for which they are thankful. In Thanksgiving Celebrations for the Home, MaryJane Pierce Norton suggests creating a list together, such as foods each person enjoys. Then together offer “thanks for the Earth and all with which we are blessed in the world God created.”
  • Send cards to those we miss. Remember those who are not able to be with you this year by making or purchasing cards for them. “On Thanksgiving Day,” Norton writes, “invite all who are gathered in your home to sign and/or write a note on the cards to those who are missing.” Mail them the next day to share the gratitude.
  • Create a keepsake of thanks. When you take that group photo around the table or in front of the fireplace, record not only the names of those in attendance, but also something for which each person is thankful. This will be a great item to revisit when everyone gathers again next year. See Thanksgiving Celebrations for the Home for more ideas of celebrating gratitude together.
  • Include children. Involve the children celebrating with you by sharing the Child’s Thanksgiving Prayer. Use this prayer at the kids’ table as a grace or an after meal blessing, having one of the older children lead. Then encourage the kids to write their own Thanksgiving prayers, with which they could lead the adults in prayer later in the day.
  • Voice your gratitude. If your family is musical, consider a Thanksgiving sing-a-long, as you might do with Christmas carols. Dean McIntyre offers Hymns for Thanksgiving Day from our United Methodist Hymnal and Songbooks that would be a great way to celebrate. He also offers a quiz of hymns with lines about thanksgiving in Musical Thanksgiving. Make a game out of who can guess the most.

However you can, find ways to give thanks to God for all of his blessings throughout your celebration this year. Instill the habit of an attitude of gratitude, which will extend far beyond Thanksgiving Day.

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NEWS FROM THE CENTER NOVEMBER

 

 

Click below to view this months CHIMES Newsletter:

 

The CHIMES November 2023

 

 

 

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NEWS FROM THE CENTER OCTOBER

Please click link below to view this months exciting newsletter…..

 

CHIMES  October 2023

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HARVEST AUCTION – WEDNESDAY, OCT. 11TH!!

Trinity Harvest Auction Set for Wednesday, October 11th

There is a slight tint of color in some of the leaves of our maple trees, a hint that autumn is in the air. So, it’s time to save the date and to start thinking about our annual Harvest Auction. The Harvest Auction promotes a spirit of community while raising funds to support our covenant missionary, David Makobo, who is an agricultural specialist serving, along with his wife, in Senegal, Africa.

This year’s auction will be held on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11TH in Schmitt Fellowship Hall.

Fellowship will begin at 6:30 P.M. with snacks and beverages provided by the Missions Committee. Socialize with friends while looking over auction items and planning your bidding strategy! Auctioneer Kurt Monson will begin the auction at 7:00 P.M. You can look forward to good-natured, spirited bidding and lots of laughs as Kurt moves things right along.

If you’re unable to attend, we hope you will support the auction by donating an item or items to the auction, and/or supporting this missions focus financially. Your prayers for the ministry of David and Solange Makobo are greatly appreciated.

 

HARVEST AUCTION DONATIONS NEEDED

The Missions’ Committee is busy planning the annual Harvest Auction to be held in Schmitt Hall on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11. A successful auction depends upon having a variety of interesting and appealing items to present for bidding, and we need your help!

 

In the past, popular auction items have included garden/orchard produce; food items—fresh, canned, or frozen; specialty baskets; hand crafted items; seasonal décor; plants and herbs; puzzles; tools; hobby items; toys, and much more. Blank auction certificates for donated goods or services to be delivered in the future to the buyer are posted on the Missions bulletin board and will also be available the evening of the auction. Certificates may be used for such services as food items to be delivered in the future to the buyer (e.g., Rosie’s famous lasagna); leaf raking; babysitting; a load of chopped wood; –use your imagination and be creative!

 

Please bring your nonperishable Harvest Auction donations to the room across from the choir room downstairs. It is very helpful if you identify Harvest Auction donations as such, as other things may be stored in the room. Nonperishable items should be at the church by the afternoon of October 19th if possible; perishables may be brought the evening of the auction.

 

We request that donated items be clean and either NEW or VERY GENTLY USED.  Any items not sold at the auction may be donated to the local Thrift Shop. PLEASE—NO LARGE EXERCISE EQUIPMENT OR OUTDATED COMPUTER SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE.

 

If you’re unable to participate in the Harvest Auction, please prayerfully consider a monetary donation to our covenant missionary, David Makobo, of Senegal, Africa. David and his wife appreciate your prayers for their ministry.

 

Gentle readers, we do not wish to offend.  However, please note that the Harvest Auction is not a rummage sale. Donations of new or very gently used items are encouraged.  PLEASE—NO OLD OR OUTDATED COMPUTER HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE, AND NO LARGE EXERCISE EQUIPMENT.  In the past, compassionate attendees have bid on items they would otherwise not have purchased in order to avoid possible hurt feelings if a donor’s items don’t elicit bids. We hope to avoid that situation if donors will keep these donation guidelines in mind.

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