I wonder what it means to be thankful. I wonder what would really happen if I lived out the verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 -- "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
The "one really big thing" at my church this year is "intergenerational worship". While I'm not sure how that works at church our tree of thanks at Thanksgiving was the best realization of it I have experienced this year in our family.
My kids and I got out the paint and roll of paper a few days before Thanksgiving and we now have a floor to ceiling tree on our dining room wall. Thanksgiving day they worked to add leaves with their cousins with some adult involvement (I say "some" as I now have purple marker on my Thanksgiving table cloth -- so apparently our intergenerational involvement could have been more -- but perhaps that is just the "messy" part of being intergenerational that my church keeps talking about). Each leaf has drawings and/or words for things we are thankful for.
As I sat and listened to the discussion of what could be put on the leaves (overseen mostly by my 8 year old niece) I was shocked to hear how "trained" our children are even when it comes to being thankful.
Whether it is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or one of the many football commentators there are certain things we as Americans believe we should be thankful for at Thanksgiving -- family, friends, health -- those are fairly socially acceptable across the board. Another one that get thrown in for those that feel like pushing the envelope of comfort -- freedom.
Then there are the basic needs -- food, shelter, clothing -- good ones to add to the list -- as we started our Thanksgiving at Father Joe's 5K which raises money to help support the 20 million meals that he has served to those in need here in San Diego and we talked with our kids about how everyone doesn't have a house and food (a very hard concept for them to grasp).
Then there are our more "religious" items -- Bibles, Jesus, creation...
And then the list starts to get interesting -- because now you can see my kids drawing from their own interests, you see the adults adding the things that "ought" to be on there and obviously were just overlooked.
I wonder whether I should step in and limit my niece's coaching that things can only be on the wall once even though a couple of them snuck by her and got up there twice. I wonder where the line between free expression and expectations meet...what areas do I coach my children to be thankful in and which areas do I need to listen to them more so that I can regain the wonder of thankfulness and celebration -- so that I can regain the wonder of all we have to be thankful for and the many things I take for granted and forget to recognize as blessings.
