Twelve Days of Gratitude...

Amidst all the shopping, wrapping, balancing of loot 

we are reminded to be grateful 

for our bounty in life...

Especially after this weekend of heartbreak and sorrow,
our thoughts and prayers are in Connecticut...

I read a prayer posted by The Pioneer Woman, and it felt right...

Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Everyone has some personal battle they are waging, 

be it emotional, financial, 

physical or whatever...

 We all must find comfort in what 

we do possess that is good...  

Like me, most of you have much to be thankful for 

and it is for that reason we should remember 

those who are not as fortunate...  

It is so easy to get caught up in the latest Groupon 

for race car driving experiences 

or finding that sought after video game 

for our kids for Christmas...  

And our kids, in their excitement to receive presents, 

can lose sight of the reason for the season 

and that Christmas is more about giving than getting...  

I decided the kids were old enough to begin 

to experience ways to give back...

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 

-Aesop

So we signed up with Chicago Cares...  

This organization pairs people up 

with volunteering opportunities 

with a very flexible attitude...  

You peruse the schedule of volunteer activities 

and sign up for what works for you...  

It can be a one shot deal 

or a weekly/regular visit...  

On a recent Monday evening, Jack and I 

visited a local nursing home..  

We were paired up with a dog owner 

and we went room to room, 

visiting the residents and sharing Digby, the Yorkie, with them...  

At first, Jack was not with the program...  

He did not like the unfamiliar surroundings 

and he was not sure what to do 

with these seniors in hospital beds...  

But once he saw how their eyes lit up 

when that little Yorkie doggie jumped on their beds, 

he warmed up, too...  

They fed Digby treats 

and talked about lots of things...

One elderly Russian guy talked to Jack, rapid-fire...

"When you gonna cut that hair?!"

"You get good grades in school, huh??" 

I think the experience was a positive one...  

He told his dad he had fun...

It was important for him to see that life 

is not just play dates and video games with buddies...  

And this volunteering thing 

is just the beginning... 

 It's time to give back a little...

To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act 

is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.

-Gandhi

With that in mind, I decided to put together 

a project for after Christmas...  

Life is too crazy right now, 

what with school concerts, 

frantic searches for the last few gifts 

and the spritz cookie dough 

that is languishing in the fridge, 

waiting to be baked.... 

Once the wrappings have been discarded,

 the toys have found new homes in their bedrooms 

and the New Year's poppers have been swept away, 

it will be time to show some gratitude...  

Time to perform random acts of kindness...  

I have created The Twelve Days of Gratitude...  

This is a sheet of 12 kind deeds your kids can perform, 

one per day...  

The idea is to print out the page, 

cut the boxes into 12 pieces 

and then stuff them into a box, jar or hat...  

Click Here to Print...

Pick a convenient starting date 

in early January...

Each morning, your kids will pick a slip out of the jar 

and find out what their good deed of the day is...  

If you have more than two kids, 

you might want to make up some more deeds 

to add to the jar...  

My hope is that my children 

will gain as big a reward from their thoughtful acts 

as the receiver of the benevolent gesture...

And certainly, the world could use
a little more kindness these days...

If all goes well, 

Twelve Days of Gratitude 

may become a tradition.

Also, from Lisa and her Shine Your Light blog,
some more good ideas...
Click on the image to enlarge the print...