Thankfulness Thursdays/ Week Sixteen

It's our second to last Thankfulness Thursday and next week is the big one :) Be sure to check out Ashley's post today at Domestic Fashionista! She was the one who started this weekly day of giving thanks and I think I only missed one week. It's been a great way to focus on what we have instead of what we need, want or wish.

Today I'm thankful to have the opportunity to help others, even in small ways.

We're participating in Operation Christmas Child for the first time this year. I took the kids shopping last night after an early dinner. I chose to fill a box for a girl, age 2-4 because I felt that would be the best way to help my daughter to understand the purpose of OCC. It was easy as pie for her to pick out treats for someone her age and opened her eyes, if only for a moment, to the fact that not everyone gets toys and books as freely as she does.

After a long week of debating several times whether we should pack all her toys into a giant box to help her appreciate their value and the necessity of clean-up time, it was a nice break to see her choosing toys, games and treats for someone beside herself. She didn't throw "even one single tantrum" as she proudly told her daddy, which might give you some insight into our week. I explained once at the beginning of the trip (and once in the book aisle) that this was not a shopping trip for us and that was all she needed. To drive the point home, I made sure not to pick up anything for myself or for the house so that truly all we purchased was for our OCC box.

Tonight we'll be packing up the box to deliver to the church and I hope it will be another good conversation about how blessed we are and why we help others who have less than us. I'm very thankful for how much we have and I pray that I won't take that for granted.