Thanksgiving’s one month from today, and it’s easily my favorite holiday of the entire year. An entire day devoted to gratitude recalibrates my priorities and gets me ready to focus on a meaningful holiday season.
In my family, we have a tradition call the Thankful Tree.
Every November 1, my husband cuts a large branch and brings it inside. All during the month of November, up until Thanksgiving, we all write down things we are thankful for on paper leaves and hang them up. It gives quite a picture of what’s been happening in our family. One year, back in the mid-eighties, Larry the Furnace Guy made the tree when he saved our HVAC system from an untimely death and gave us a few extra months of safety and warmth. There are always some funny leaves (a rock collection), some predictable leaves (coffee!!!) and some sentimental leaves (our new son-in-law).
This year we challenged some of our clients to take up this tradition. The folks at Chapman Heating and Air Conditioning in Columbia Missouri went all out. Well, I should say Mady at Chapman went all out. She actually built a tree! We can wait to watch it fill up with thankful leaves over the weeks ahead as Heather, Heidi, Nathan, Phil and the gang at Chapman write their blessings on leaves and affix them to Mady’s incredible tree.
Thanksgiving’s coming up fast so why not cut down a branch or be awesome like Mady and build a paper mache tree? Then cut up some construction paper leaves and go to town.
What are you thankful for this year? What will make your thankful tree?
Some years it’s harder than others to choose gratitude. But when we do it makes all the difference.
Excellent post Tim. This kind of idea brings more expectation leading up to Thanksgiving, and makes the Day itself more tangible once it arrives.
I think I’ll buy a poster board, we’ll draw a tree on it and sick pre-cut out leaves (if I can find’m anywhere). Hobby Lobby, anyone?
Thanks, josh
Thank you very much Tim.
Greetings from Germany,
Bianca