November is the perfect time to transform our gratitude to God into acts of generosity toward others. These don’t always have to be “big” acts. William Wordsworth said “the best portions” of a good person’s life are his or her “little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.”
With some support from you, the little children in your life can make a big difference in the lives of other people. Here are some ideas to encourage gratitude and service:
Make serving fun. Spend an afternoon raking up leaves for elderly neighbors or church members. Afterward, dump a bag of the leaves on your own lawn, and throw some individually wrapped candy into the pile. After children search for the candy, discuss what makes helping others feel so “sweet.”
Enlist children in the Christian Secret Service (CSS). Deploy kids for undercover operations by having them serve others covertly. For example, they can leave sidewalk-chalk messages for neighbors, deliver cards at a local nursing home, or pick up trash at their favorite park.
Share your adventures in serving. During November and December, challenge family members to perform acts of giving and kindness. Then report the activities every night during dinner or family devotions. These can range from shoveling snow and delivering cookies to leaving a close-to-the-door parking spot open at the mall or helping someone carry his or her packages.
Thoughts About Thankfulness
In a poll conducted last Thanksgiving, 41% of American adults said that after family and health, they’re most thankful for their religious faith. Adults over age 40 are more thankful for their religion than younger people are.
(Rasmussen Reports)
78% of Americans think the actions of one person can improve the world. The same number also believes they’re more involved in making a difference than their parents were.
(Parade)
Ask God:
* To give your children grateful hearts for all their blessings.
* To provide opportunities for your family to serve together.
* To make service a joyful, regular habit in your home.
Parenting Insights
In The Five Love Languages of Children, Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell note that “parenting is a service-oriented vocation.” They offer tips for parents whose kids feel loved through acts of service that others perform for them:
Set a model of servanthood and responsibility. Don’t use acts of service to manipulate children or to offer them things that aren’t best for them or your family.
Keep acts of service age-appropriate. Don’t do things for children that they should be doing for themselves. As kids become ready, teach them how to serve themselves and then others.
Perform an attitude check. Remember that loving service is a gift. Daily, “mundane” tasks that parents perform for children are expressions of love that have long-term effects on children.
“Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.” Galatians 6:10
God wants us to act out our gratitude every day through “thanksliving,” an attitude of gratitude that shows itself through service to others.
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Teachable Moments
Read Up—For babies and toddlers, read aloud picture books about thankfulness, such as Thank You, God, for Everything by August Gold and Thankfulness by Cynthia Roberts. Talk about ways we say thank you to God and other people.
Pop Up—For preschoolers, play a game to express thankfulness. Have all family members crouch down on the floor. Then have people pop up randomly—and often—to say what they’re thankful for. Play another round, popping up to say how you can help others.
Sing Your Thanks—Visit www.group.com/groupmusic for free music downloads and more fun, simple activities to increase your family’s thankfulness. Also check out the “GroupMusic” Facebook page to suggest your own ideas for easy family activities about gratitude and Thanksgiving.
Start a conversation with your children about gratitude and servanthood by asking these discussion-starter questions:
What are some blessings God has given you? What blessings do you sometimes take for granted or forget to thank God for?
How do you show God that you appreciate his gifts? How can we thank someone we can’t see?
When you’re thankful, how does that make you want to act?
Why does God want us to help and serve other people? What are some ways we can do that as individuals? as a family?
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Family Experience: Service With a Smile
Try these activities from Group’s Hands-On Bible to help your family members explore ways to put thankfulness into action:
Food From Heaven—Use spoons to launch small marshmallows into one another’s mouths. Say: “We just fed each other in an amazing way. God fed his people in an amazing way, too.” Read aloud Exodus 16:11-21. Talk about how God provided for the Israelites and how he provides for your family. Add some leftover marshmallows to dried cereal, nuts, raisins, or pretzels to make a tasty “manna mix.” Ask: “What would it be like to gather your food off the ground each day? How can we help people who need food or other necessities?” Assemble a bag of nonperishable groceries and deliver it to a local food bank. Or make another batch of manna mix and give it to a family who needs encouragement. Tell this family you’re praying for them and that God cares about their needs.
Follow His Example—Have everyone take off their socks and shoes. Read aloud John 13:1-15, about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. Say: “In Bible times, servants washed the dirty feet of guests. It was a lowly job, but Jesus did it to show that we should serve others.” Take turns giving one another foot massages. Ask: “Why was Jesus willing to be a servant? How can we encourage each other to remember to serve?” Have family members use permanent markers to write on a light-colored towel the name of someone they’d like to serve. Hang the towel in the bathroom as a reminder to follow through on your service ideas.
Culture & Trends
What’s happening right now that may affect your children and family:
Children are swearing earlier than ever, due to a rise in vulgarity among adults. Swearing “really takes off” between ages 3 and 4, says researcher Timothy Jay.
(www.livescience.com)
Almost all (92%) of U.S. babies and toddlers now have a “digital footprint,” thanks to photo-sharing and social-networking sites.
(CNN.com)
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Quick Stats
Two-thirds of adults with no-swear policies for children break their own rules.
(www.livescience.com)
Today’s children have 12 fewer hours of free time a week than kids did in the 1980s. (Univ. of Michigan)
Physically fit 9 and 10 year olds have bigger brain volumes and outperform out-of-shape peers on memory tests.
(Brain Research)
