The Thanksgiving Tree

I’m surprised at how they jump in, at how they eagerly pick up scissors and sticks and build a memory together. Six cousins in one house waiting for Mama/Aunt Heather to come home with the new baby. They pick up pencils and scrawl thanksgivings, turn the leaves over and read scripture haltingly.
“There’s a scripture,” I share, trying to get the attention of six pairs of eyes, “that says we come into God’s court with thanksgiving. Do you know what a court is?”

They say something about judges and a greenspace inside of a building, all correct, and then we all imagine what a king’s court might have looked like and how you had to be invited into that space of power.

Oh, but we have the invitation in our hand! I wave.  I hold up a leaf with scripture on one side, simple thanksgiving on the other. (I saw the word wii on more than one…but James tells us that EVERY good and perfect gift comes from Him!)

We can always be invited into God’s court with a simple present: heartfelt thanksgiving.

They bravely sound out the words of the scriptures and string up their thanks back to God, joy-gifts waving on a make-shift thanksgiving tree.

A special thanks to Ann Voskamp from www.aholyexperience.com who is teaching us all how to enter back into God’s Presence with thanksgiving.

This printable for The Thanksgiving Tree was found as a gift at her site.

Summer Gross

sharing this gift with the beautiful and word-wise Jennifer @