30 days of Thanks and Giving - part 2

Can you believe that November is already 1/3 over?!  Crazy!  We've had another fun week of #30daysofThanksandGiving.  If you are joining us on the challenge, how are you doing?  We would love to see some of your ideas!  Don't forget to use the hashtag on Instagram!

I was a little late getting it done but I finally finished putting up our Thankful Tree.  I love how it turned out and love it even more since it only cost $1 to make!  :)  You can get the rest of the details about our Thankful Tree here.

I've got lots of fun things to share today - a recap of our week 2, a few pics that have been posted to IG from those that are joining us, and then some inspiration and a few free printables.  We hope you have a wonderful week blessing others!

             Day 4

We are thankful for our Bibles.  To give back we donated a Bible to the Thomas Project at LifeWay bookstores.

Sara used Election Day to show her kiddos why we should all be thankful to be Americans.  They went to vote and took along candy treats to give to the poll workers! I LOVE this idea and I'm sure they made the poll workers smile!

             Day 5

Hope is thankful for the "funder, rain, and white-ning" so we bought an umbrella (a cheetah print that Hope thought was fabulous!) to share with a stranger who looks like they could use one!  We attached this little tag to the inside of the umbrella for a fun surprise when they open it.

             

Hunter and Savannah are thankful for clean water.  To show how thankful they are, they made a donation to the UNICEF Tap Project.

             Day 6

Colby is thankful for sports so I fixed up a bag of candy for him to share with his teammates.

Hunter and Savannah are thankful for their food.  To give thanks, they bought canned goods to donate to their church's food pantry.

             Day 7

Hope is thankful for her soccer coach so we put together a little blessing jar of goodies for her.  You can find the how-to (and free printable!) for the blessing jars here.  We put together ten jars very quickly to use on some upcoming days.  

Hunter and Savannah are thankful for their Grammy and Papa so they left them a special note to find!

             Day 8

Today we gave thanks for food by attending an Empty Bowls event.  The premise is simple: potters and other craftspeople, educators, and others work with the community to create handcrafted bowls.  Guests are invited to a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a donation, guests are asked to keep a bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world.  The money from today's event will benefit the Brazos Valley Food Bank.

Hunter is thankful for his soccer coach so he made him a card and attached a gift card to his coach's favorite Fro-Yo spot!

             Day 9

Holden listed that she was thankful for the Earth so we spent about an hour at the creek by our house cleaning up.  We started out just picking up trash but ended up gathering fallen limbs and even raking up a bag of leaves.  We are hoping to spend more time down there in the future because the little section we worked on looks really good!

Hunter and Savannah are thankful for their Family Game Nights so they bought one of their favorite games and donated it to Toys for Tots.

just a few of the Instagram pics from this past week!

  

* thankful for beautiful fall days * thankful for jobs that you are passionate about *

* thankful for favorite sports season and family to share it with * 

* thankful to live in a great neighborhood with sweet neighbors * 

* thankful for an amazing daddy * thankful for sweet grandmas and awesome sisters

inspiration + more free printables!

No secret that I adore Courtney DeFeo and her heart for serving others.  She's got some GREAT ideas on how to Teach Gratitude - Family Style!  

Jill @ Scary Mommy and her online community saw a need and acted on it.  

Three years ago she put it out there - she asked for people to help her feed families in need for Thanksgiving.  She paired two donors that could donate $25 each and they were able to provide food for 378 families that would otherwise have not received a meal on Thanksgiving.  Since then, over 4,500 families have benefited from the 

Thanksgiving Project.  Please click here to learn more.

I love how she saw a need, gathered her resources, and made something happen.  Imagine what we could do if we asked ourselves, "what can I do to help?".

The moms at New Orleans Moms Blog are encouraging other moms in the New Orleans area to a 30 days of Giving Challenge.  Sound familiar?!  :)  One small act of generosity might not seem like much but when you add it to what others are doing, great things can happen!  I love seeing how they are encouraging their community to come together to give!

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As we go into week three of #30daysofThanksandGiving, I want to share with you a song that spoke to my heart.  I want to be able to give 'til it hurts!  This week I'm going to use the lyrics to this song as my prayer.  Will you join me?

Father, break my heart for what breaks Yours.

Give me open hands and open doors.

Put Your light in my eyes and let me see

That my own little world is not about me.

What if there's a bigger picture?

What if I'm missing out?

What if there's a greater purpose

That I could be living right now?

Lord, give us eyes that see and ears that hear.  Please help us use the gifts and resources that You have given us to serve the needs of others.  We want to be Your hands and feet. Thank you for the many blessings that you have given us.  I pray for each and every person reading this - that they would know how much You love them. Amen

Gig 'em and God bless!

Holly

Jen | Amber | Emily | Lauren | Marianne | Michelle | Sybil