Thanksgiving Reads - Native American

Thanksgiving reading - Immigrant Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving reading...Thankful

Thanksgiving activities

1.  Sing "On the first day of thanksgiving, my Father gave to me...."
2.  Make pictures with Give Thanks to the Lord and decor
3.  use this link to write &/or memorize Scripture each day
4. Thanksgiving writing prompts and mad libs
5. Have kids help make menu and help with the shopping, along with the cooking.  We had some of our best thanksgiving moments during the cooking together time!
6. Learn about the biblical Feasts of Booths (Succoth) and make your own booths!
7.  Learn about Thanksgiving traditions around the world, current and ancient.
8. Watch Paws & Tales - Giving Thanks, Free Birds, Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Kit Kittredge an American Girl,
9. make a cornucopia


Native American study:
1. make a cradleboard for a babydoll
2.  listen to Kaya, an American girl
3.  practice archery (with toy bow and arrow)...make your own if you don't have any!  You just need a stick and string.
4. practice weaving - paper, finger, loom, etc..
5. do beading projects
6. do any sewing projects...a doll quilt, a leather jacket with beading for a doll,
7. make a wetu (wigwam)
8. visit a Native American site, museum, or special presentation
9. do sand art (Navajo).

30 days of Giving Thanks

Love this list of 30 days of giving thanks that i found!  I also added in an idea our church challenged us with...instead of just saying what we are thankful for, share what it tells us about God!  My daughter loved doing these this year and would excitedly ask me what the 3 things she needed to write down to put in our blessing box were.

1- 3 gifts eaten
2 - 3 gifts worn
3 - 3 gifts that start with N
4 - a gift given/ gathered/good
5 - 3 small gifts
6 - 3 gifts of country
7 - 3 gifts from my window
8 - a sweet, salty, sipped gift
9 - 3 Harvest Gifts
10 - 3 gifts found in bible reading
11 - 3 gifts of remembrance
12 - 3 gifts at noon
13 - 3 gifts behind a door
14 - 3 silent gifts
15 - 3 golden gifts
16 - 3 gifts of eucheristeo
17 - 3 gifts of laughter
18 - 3 gifts made/shared/passed on
19 - 3 gifts of autumn
20 - 3 gifts of tradition
21 - 3 gifts of family
22 - 3 gifts grateful for
23 - 3 gifts only in Christ
24 - 3 gifts of humilty
25 - 3 gifts of ugly/beauty
26 - 3 gifts of prepartion
27 - a gift handmade/ help/happy
28 - 3 gifts in community
29 - 3 red gifts
30 - 3 astonishing gifts

Losing Grandma...

Today I woke up to the shocking news that my grandma had passed in the night. Last I had heard before I went to bed is that she had gone into the hospital and was dehydrated, but was doing fine.  I found out that actually her cancer (from 23 years ago) had come back and within a few hours of verification of that she passed.

Living farther away has its drawbacks...I didn't get to say goodbye.  My heart is broken by this. However, all she has talked about my entire life is going home to be with Jesus...so I know she is dancing, worshipping, praising, and enjoying sweet reunion with family and friends.  But how we miss her already.

My mind has been rolling through so many memories today -
- Christmas lights - she always had a massive outdoor display
- the doll and lighthouse collections...
- her wonderful, meaningful hugs
- songs and whistling and unique voice
- stories of the "old days"
- her constant fascination with the rapture and the end times and daily praying for Jesus to come
- the house that was always the same.
- extra food always in the fridge to welcome her grandkids
- the same sights, smells, and friendliness
- her love in going the extra mile in loving us
- watching Disney movies as a child at her house
- Cinderella brings HUGE memories back
- when she introduced me to Oswald Chamber - My Utmost for His Highest as a teen and I just didn't understand it then, but this year it has become a life-line.
- without even finishing Jr High, she had learned bible study methods and taught me to read a whole book from the bible at once to get a better view of the whole book.
- how much Sae's heart for Jesus is like Grandma's!
- since I got married (interracial marriage) she added some african american dolls to her collection.
- the many sleepovers throughout the years that I had at her house and all the memories and conversations.



My heart hurts when I realize: 
- I will never be able to call her number and talk with her
- that someone else will live in her home and it will never be the same
- that I wont get one of her awesome hugs and love when I visit my family next
- I won't hear her passion for and encouragement to focus on Jesus & living with realness and not hypocrisy or legalism.

And I know it's just the beginning...we've walked this road of grief in losing our 2 last pregnancies and it never goes away.

This is grief for us - joy for her. These words were some of her favorites and were a huge comfort today.
  1 Corinthians 15:54 - 58

"When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory?    Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Crosscultural Communications #2

Many thoughts are heavy on my heart, so this might be a bit jumbled. I just wanted to get it out before I forget. While on my way to a new store, I came across a refugee looking, tent "town" under the bridge. My heart was so disturbed. How can I have lived here 15 years and this is the 1st time seeing this? How is it possible that in America there are such "tent cities"? My heart ached. I was glad to know that there is this ministry that helps this group and others: http://www.meetmeunderthebridge.org/about-us/. Do we care? My thoughts throughout this day were: why do we shy away from this? why do we not care? If Jesus were here, where would He spend His time? I am quite certain that it wouldn't be in the places we would think...didn't He say He came to heal the sick, not the well? Why are we so repulsed by those He would hang out with? Why do we run from His heartbeat? People often have no idea just how different it is here in the inner city. There are several different types of culture here...white, black, hispanic, "ghettobilly", and they all have more in common together than they would with me. I coined the word "2nd World County" as a discription of what it is like here. It's not like a 1st world culture - life and everything about it is difficult and different than mainstream American culture. This is the part most American's just can't understand - I have hundreds of illustrations of this, but here is just one. A mother was told (mockingly) at her daughter's school that her 6 year old daughter was too big to be in a stroller. In a 1st world country, that would be true. In a 3rd world county, a stroller would be a luxery and used for all sorts of things. In a 2nd world country...it is essential to a mother who is walking a mile by a busy street with 2 children, one of whom has severe ADHD to contain at least one so she can get from point A to point B and back. Another picture I saw today was a corner with 30-40 Hispanic men who sit on the corner of a busy street...just waiting for someone to come along to hire them so they can take a few dollars home. Reminds me of the parable Jesus told of the man who had a vineyard and went throughout the day to hire men who had assembled. Just my thoughts for the day...more to come another day.