This Thanksgiving our family will enjoy spending the day together. I am anticipating a fire in the fireplace and smells coming from the kitchen reminding us of holidays’ past. Following a late night of preparations, we’ll start the day early watching the Macy’s Day Parade. Always a family favorite. Then the football game marathon will commence. But before we get too deep into being armchair quarterbacks, we’ll gather around the table to eat. It is then that the climax of the day arrives when we open our jar of blessings.
Four years ago, my family started a tradition that has remained not only inspirational but also keeps us focused throughout the year on what God has done for us. On our kitchen counter sits a simple glass container with a plastic lid. Written in magic marker on the top reads, “What Are You Thankful For? Jar.” Next to it sits a small container filled with nicely cut pieces of index cards and a pen. Throughout the year, when something happens that one of us is thankful for, we grab a card, write out briefly the blessing, date it, fold it, and drop it in the jar. Slowly the jar fills as the months go by. Then on Thanksgiving, the cards are divided among the family members seated around the table. As we share the meal, we take turns reading each of the blessings. We continue circling around the table until all the blessings are read. Since they are randomly divided, you never know what you’ll be reading. Sometimes, you end up with one that someone wrote because they were thankful for something you did. It becomes the year in rewind but seeing it through the thankful lens.
I cannot remember where I came across this idea, but I was excited to share it with the family. So, four years ago, during Thanksgiving dinner, I put the jar on the counter. Then I challenged the family for the next year to jot down things they were thankful for, and we would share them the following Thanksgiving. They were skeptical that I would even remember the jar the next year. But when Thanksgiving came, I had the cards divided out by their plates before they even sat down. Many of the notes were from me, but in the final days, I caught a glimpse of others jotting down blessings and stuffing them in the jar. I knew then I was on to something. As we sat around the table and read the blessings, it did not take long for memories to be triggered and for smiles to brighten the table. It was a powerful reminder of our love for each other and how no matter the situation, God was faithful in taking care of us. The next year, there were more notes. When time came to read the blessings, we were all anxious to sit down and reminisce about the blessings of the year.
These last few years have been challenging to say the least for the Betz family. My parents’ have struggled with some health issues as well as my husband’s. We’ve lost two pets, and we’ve had to deal with some personal challenges. But each Thanksgiving Day, we are humbled and again surprised at how many times we have been blessed through the year. It’s come to a point that the mere presence of the jar on the counter causes us to count our blessings on a more daily basis.
Next year we will start a new tradition of reviewing previous blessings. Every five years, I plan to not only have read the blessings of the previous year but also reread the blessings from five years earlier. I believe it will give us a different perspective on how God has been working in our lives, individually and as a family. I also believe that it will be a reminder that God has been faithful through the years, and His love for us is constant and never-changing.
I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends and that your family has a special way of remembering the blessings that happen all year long.