F is for Family

As the matriarch at our Thanksgivings, I always fret because I want everyone to go around the table and say something for which they are thankful. I want to make the Thanksgiving meal more meaningful than just eating turkey. My adult kids and grandkids and husband, too, groan when I suggest it. No one just pops up to begin. I have to beg to get responses. I do understand. It is hard to be creative. We are all thankful for the Lord Jesus, family, friends, shelter, food, church, etc.

Last year I saw an idea in the Family Fun magazine (Family Traditions: F is for Family, by Amy Candland, Nov. 2006, p. 46). I talked about it with David (one of our grandkids) when he was at my house for Grandma Day and he suggested it at Thanksgiving. It may be because it came from a child instead of Grandma, but it worked! It was simple and I am going to use it again. You just go around the table with the ABC's. The first person has to come up with something they are thankful for that starts with A, the next with B, etc. and keep going around the table until you complete the alphabet at least one time. A Candland rule is : No using proper nouns. (Nearly every letter begins someone's first or middle name.) You would think that it could turn into all silliness and there was some of that which was fun but there were also some sweet and serious responses plus we all got two turns. I was happy that as a family we could acknowledge that we had many blessings and the family was happy because it was more gamelike than putting people on the spot. It is worth a try.