Give thanks to the Lord...

By Annette Osborne -
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever" 1 Chronicles 16:34
 
When my brother married an American, a new festival entered my family calendar: Thanksgiving. To me, Thanksgiving is a much overlooked American celebration, one that trumps Halloween in my opinion. 

Over the years we have attempted a few different things. We replaced turkey with fresh fish, and pumpkin pie with strawberries. The first year we tried going around in a circle saying what we were thankful for. For a family that doesn't share emotions easily, this was somewhat awkward. 

Our most successful idea was to create a Thankful Tree. Over the course of the afternoon, family members could write on a paper disk something they were thankful for, and hang it on the tree. We enjoyed reading each other's ideas and even the youngest of us wrote a word or two.


Our most hilarious idea was to invite everyone to bring along a food they were thankful for. We ended up with a very eclectic mix. My brother brought a whole fish, my 5 year old nephew a bag of marshmallows.

Is there something simple you could do with your family to be thankful?
Why not create a Thankful Tree with your children's programme at church? Or, take it one step further and create a large Thankful Tree in the foyer of your church so that All Ages can participate. Have pens on hand so people can add to it over the month of November. 

 Do you have a simple Thanksgiving practice you can share with others? We would love to hear from you. 
(Check out our pinterest page for some ideas)





Annette Osborne 
Children and Families Team 
Scripture Union, Auckland.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12. Jesus has his first visitors.

By Annette Osborne -
Image
When a new baby is born, everyone wants to visit. People bring gifts and they take photographs. When Jesus was a baby some of the first visitors to meet him were these young guys who looked after sheep for a living. Some of them stayed in the fields to make sure the sheep we re okay, and a group of them travellled into Bethlehem to find this baby that the angels told them about.  This is a photograph of a painting of the shepherds. In this photograph the shepherd is an older man. Can you see how he carries the little lamb safe on his shoulders? They would have been a bit smelly. They lived out in the fields, with sheep for company. No showers, no soap and probably no change of clothes. But that doesn’t matter to God. You see, the Christmas story is full of people who weren’t famous or grea t leaders or seen as important. That’s what make it so amazing. God sent angels to tell the shepherds about the saviour of the world. Not Herod, not Augustus. Shepherds.  Do you think t
Read more

The Three Kings by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

By Annette Osborne -
Image
What a beautiful poem to read this Christmas, (despite the fact we don't know that there were three wise kings, nor do we know their names). This would make a great addition to an All-Age service, or as part of a church service during Advent. Find someone in your congregation with a great reading voice. You might even like to have them sit in a comfy arm chair with a lamp for light.  For extra drama, soak a little frankincense or myrrh oil onto cotton-wool balls and pass these out before you read the poem. Let people smell the spice of the wise kings gifts, as they listen to the poem, and take home the cotton-wool ball as a reminder.  The Three Kings  By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  Three Kings came riding from far away, Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar; Three Wise Men out of the East were they, And they travelled by night and they slept by day, For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star. And when they came to Jerusalem, Herod the Great, who had heard this thing, Se
Read more

Waitangi Day

By Annette Osborne -
Image
Te Kawenata o Waitangi (the Covenant of Waitangi) The Treaty of Waitangi  signed 6 Feb 1840 “Te Kawenata o Waitangi is the name Māori gave to the Treaty of Waitangi. It means, the ‘Covenant of Waitangi’, and reflects the influence of the gospel on New Zealand history. The signing of the Treaty was not simply a contract but a covenant, in the Biblical sense of the word.” (Mark Grace, The Gospel and the Treaty of Waitangi, 2014) Waitangi Day is a great opportunity to reflect on our history as a nation, but also the part that Christians played in this historic event. Here are some ideas you might like to use in your Sunday School or children’s programme or together with all ages in your church services. Click on the links below to view and download free resources. We are keen to add to this col lection, so if you have an idea or activity we would love you to share it w ith us. Email: annette.o@sunz.o rg.nz A few main points:  Click here for a brief overview of the Tre
Read more