Simply Thanksgiving...

I recently won a gift pack from a blog contest that included a 'Homespun Memories for the Heart' book.  It is by Karen Ehman, Kelly Hovermale, & Trish Smith and it is great!  It's full of fun ideas to make holidays, birthdays, and any other day you can think of unforgettable.  This goes along so well with the idea of simplicity I've talked about.  What could be better than saving money by scaling down the gifts and making memories by spending quality time with the family?
One of the great idea's that stuck out for me was an acitivity for Thanksgiving.  I've always felt that Thanksgiving was an important holiday not just for it's meaning to America, but also a time that we can set aside to show our kid's how important it is to be thankful to God for all the blessings He's given to us.  But I've always just let the occassion pass and never really made Thanksgiving the example I wanted it to be.  So this year, I'm going to use an idea presented in the book that leads up to Thanksgiving.  They call it the Fruit of the Spirit in a Horn of Plenty.  Nine days before Thanksgiving you start filling the Horn of Plenty with one fruit per day that signifies a Fruit of the Spirit.  You can use your imagination (I'm gonna use the ones in the book) for which fruits to use.  You also memorize Galations 5:22-23 over those days and on Thanksgiving your kids can recite it for their relatives.  Fun!
There is also another activity that is mentioned that I definitely want to do one year and that is serve the Thanksgiving meal at a homeless shelter.  The ladies in the book recommend not eating breakfast before you go so that the kids really get a sense of how the people at the shelter feel most of the time.  What a lesson to learn...some things can't be learned by just hearing, they need to be experienced.  I'm thinking my kids are a little young for this yet, but maybe it's never too soon to learn! 
What about you?  Are you ready to make holidays more than 'Hallmark' days?  Do you want to make memories and teach your children (or grandchildren) about Jesus?  Make them not so much about materialism and themselves?  I know I am and this year I'm choosing to do something about it!

'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.'  Galatians 5:22-23

Homespun Memories for the Heart (purchase info here)