Tracking Blessings

Each November, with our craft kit business, my daughter and I have created a way for our family and other families to name our blessings and count our thankfulness. In the past, this looks like putting our gratefulness into categories (food, necessities, people, places, etc.). We have used different shaped/colored card stock for each family to fill out their thankfulness and hang with twine as a banner in their homes. Beautiful. I wouldn’t want to take anything away from those projects. But this year, things are different. What we found in doing these on our own was that it was too random. While yes we were thankful for our home and animals and clothes to wear, what about when not-so-easy times rolled our way? Being thankful for the basics is important, but that’s pretty easy to say. What about being thankful when we don’t even understand our current circumstances? So, we began to brainstorm for this year… What we decided on really stems from our hearts’ desires to be grateful in every season of life. And sometimes, let’s just be honest, we struggle. We thought about a way to “track our blessings” back into the past to see where the origination was. For example, if we list “friends” as what we are thankful for – let’s go back to see how did we meet those friends? We wrote that down. For us, it was a new church. Then, let’s go back one more step. Why were we at a new church? Our answer was a move to a new state. Then, yet another step, why did we move? Job provision for my husband. And lastly, how did that come about? We prayed to be open to wherever God would have us even though that came with emotions of fear and uncertainty we had to battle. If we knew then about our new friends, it would have all made perfect sense. But only God knows the future and the plans He has for us. That is where the trust can really begin to take shape in our hearts when we are purposely looking back from our blessings to see how they originated. What a powerful way to handle our current situations! We are in the midst of watching a dear friend battle a hard disease. He has been in this battle for over 4 years now and is seemingly at the end. What good is this? For his family, for us as friends, for God’s glory? Rest assured, and we know he loves the Lord, God is doing glorious things through this hard time! How amazing it will be to begin to write blessings that have popped up through the hardship and begin to track them backward… I am sure we will all be surprised to see how that blessing came to be – maybe even writing the start of his disease as one of the steps! If you would like some festive leaves and twine to do this with your family or group, please consider purchasing our Tracking our Blessings Unit that will be available soon. Just email us at mysonshinecrafts@gmail.com. With or without our kit supplies, we urge you to consider sitting down with your family and participating in following God’s woven tapestry back through time as He has provided each blessing you have today through a series of life circumstances that may or may not have made sense at the time. We pray blessings over your family this November!

Hi! Laura here, enjoying writing, crafting, baking and outdoor time with my kiddos! Growing up in East TN, I am drawn to the mountains and anything with trees and woods. I am a novice gardener and enjoy experimenting with what will grow in our area. Speaking of, my little family of 4 currently lives right outside Atlanta, GA with our coonhound Dixie. My daughter Olivia (9 years old) and I have incorporated a side business into our school time, making kits for families to get back to hands-on craft time! I look forward to sharing some of our craft ideas and other creative thoughts with you!

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