Light the Night with Thanks

On Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we had our missionary-friends, Tomasz and Miriam, over for a mini-Thanksgiving party. While they were here, we decided to do a cool activity called "Light the Night with Thanks."

My mom developed this wonderful tradition a few years ago and it has been a big hit with her family for several Thanksgivings in a row. This year, we decided to try it with our girls. It was great to have Tomasz and Miriam join us too!

Here's how it works. You start with a dark room, lots of tea candles, and a pack of matches or a lighter.

(You also need a wonderful photographer who can turn out good pictures in very low lighting. In this case--Joshua!)

Then you need to grab some grateful people to be thankful with you. :)

Little Hannah thought this was so fun!

Each person takes turns expressing thanks for the first category: "A person outside your family for whom you are thankful." While sharing, they light a tea candle.

The children were very interested
in participating.

Miriam tells about a book she is thankful for
 and how it has influenced her.

Another category was "Something the Lord has taught you."

Abby said she was learning that Jesus
died for her sins, and how to be obedient.

Naming ways the people in the room have blessed your life.

Category #3 was a for physical blessing, and #4 was
for an intangible one.

Rebekah: "I'm grateful for my mommy and daddy,
because I just love them so much."

By now the room was growing quite bright! And so were our hearts.

The 7th and final category was a characteristic of God
for which you are thankful.

At the end, we closed in prayer, thanking God for all the blessings we had been talking about. (You can also choose to pray after each individual category.)

We enjoyed some fellowship, play time, and yummy apple strudel made by Miriam. Hannah had lots of fun with our latest-greatest new toy: a ball popper!

Tomasz and Joshua discuss the latest
immigration requirements.

One tired little girl. Time to go home!

Thanks, Mom, for a great idea! And thanks, Miriam and Tomasz, for a great evening!

[If you're interested in seeing pictures from our Thanksgiving Day celebration, Joshua has an album you can view here.]