An extended Thanksgiving

I'm stealing this idea from my friend's blog, who stole it from her friend's blog, who stole it from his friend's blog, and you are welcome to steal it for your own blog as well. And due to the abundance of blessings (clothes and toys scattered throughout my house and dirty dishes clogging the sink food and a kid in preschool for the next 2 hours) that I am thankful for, I don't actually have time to write my own blog, so I'm pretty much just copying and pasting from her blog and modifying some of the examples.

The Thanksgiving holiday is one of my favorites... gatherings of family and friends; the cool, fall air; and, of course, the food... especially the food. But, originally, it was meant to be a day to pause and give authentic thanks to God. Unfortunately, for many, including myself, thanksgiving is more of a one-day holiday than a way of life. I don't know about you, but I've been blessed beyond comprehension, and even in the unwelcome moments of life, I have so much to be thankful for.

What would it look like if I ONLY spoke words of gratitude the entire week of Thanksgiving? If I went so far as to look at a pile of laundered clothes that awaits my folding and putting up, a task I normally quite dislike, and instead think and speak out loud, “God, thank you for these clothes, for providing covering.” Or when my boys voice their grumpiness, say, “God, thank you that they have a voice, and thank you for shaping their own unique personalities.”

So, starting this Monday morning and going through this Sunday evening, I'm challenging myself to live an entire week full of thanksgiving.

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
(Ephesians 5:4 ESV)

Anytime I'm tempted to think/say/do something negative (filthy, foolish, crude, or otherwise un-thankful), I will instead choose, in that very moment, to give thanks to God for His blessing in my life.

If you'd like to join me, please leave a comment saying so AND repost this (in our own words, if you'd like... no need to link me) on your blog, twitter, facebook, etc., and challenge your friends to do the same. Even if you're not reading this until after Monday morning, it's never too late to take up a good challenge. And, keep in mind that nobody who takes this challenge is going to make it an entire week without missing the mark, so when that happens to you, just pick yourself back up and start again!