A Thankful Heart....

It's October. At school the emphasis is on Halloween. My teaching partner loves the holiday so I am surrounded by Halloween from October the 1st onwards. Anyway, to balance out the month I always put the emphasis on Thanksgiving. Halloween is a holiday of getting....most other holidays have some element of giving or loving, but really Halloween for little kids is all about the candy. We used to collect money for Unicef, but even that has fallen out of tradition for the most part. So, I like to talk to the kids about thankfulness to begin the month. Today we brainstormed all the things we are thankful for. Of course, I told them that now that they are in grade two I wanted to hear those great descriptive words. No more I am thankful for food....that's grade one.....I was looking for "I am thankful for tasty, nutritious food". The kids mostly impressed me with their ideas. Sadly there were a few kids who couldn't think of anything to be thankful for except their Playstation 2! When I asked them if they were thankful for their safe, warm, cozy bed they looked at me as if I were from a new planet!! Anyway, it's a good exercise, not only in using descriptive words, but in being thankful. We talked about the hurricane disasters and the starving children in third world countries. Hopefully in some small way, I helped them realize how fortunate they really are. I should post some of their writing...it turned out so well. It was one of those lessons that really worked. Anyhow, in honour of Thanksgiving, I thought I would post my own personal list. Maybe I'll share it with my kids tomorrow.......

I am thankful for:

• my wonderful husband and two sweet intelligent daughters
• God's love and Christ's salvation
• extended family who are always there for us
• my part time work and my time at home
• my home and the sense of belonging and safety it brings me
• our country and the freedoms we enjoy daily
• health and the ability to exercise and nourish my body
• little indulgences ....things I don't need but are fun to have
• income that enables us to live comfortably
• the ability to give generously
• time to be creative and use my mind in different ways

I think my list could be much longer, but these are the things that come to mind right now.