Our Thanksgiving Tree + Ideas to Make Thanksgiving Meaningful

Our kids and I put up this Thanksgiving tree earlier this week. (Sorry that it’s a little hard to see in the pictures; it’s on the mirrored wall in our dining room!)

We have always tried to make Thanksgiving an important holiday in our home and not just one that is sandwiched in between the more commercial holidays of Halloween and Christmas. I want our kids to understand the importance of Thanksgiving for two reasons: it is important to understand our American heritage, and as Christians, it’s important to give thanks to God.

This year, I feel that offering thanksgiving to God is especially important, given that we are experiencing a new kind of sorrow with my recent diabetes diagnosis. We usually do this little table top Thanksgiving tree, but this year we wanted to go a little bigger. My friend Amy gave us the idea for this bigger version.

Making a tree this year and together talking about our gratitude is our way of putting a stake in the ground and saying, “We will continue giving thanks even during the hard times. We know know that God is faithful still.”  I know that this is what God wants us to do because he tells us in his word:

I Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

So we crinkled up some brown packing paper and made the trunk and branches. Addison cut out leaves and the kids and I have been writing things for which we are very thankful and verses about giving thanks.

We are adding to it a little each day, and I think it is rustically beautiful! Our tree has been a blessing; it has lightened our hearts and been a fun diversion. I encourage you to find a way to give thanks during this season. Maybe it will be privately, or maybe it will be by making a big or little tree. Or perhaps it will be just a conversation around the table in which you all share some gratitude. But however you do it, I think you’ll find that there is power and joy in giving thanks.

Here are a few other Thanksgiving ideas and resources to make your Thanksgiving more meaningful this year.

Our Favorite Thanksgiving Book:

Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainy 

Other Wonderful Thanksgiving Books

A Free Thanksgiving Printable

And of course the food for Thanksgiving is absolutely wonderful, isn’t it? You can find recipe inspiration by clicking Thanksgiving under the Holidays menu above above or here:

Thanksgiving Favorites: Everything but the Turkey!