31 Days :: Documenting Thankfulness

Perhaps the most profound form of memory keeping is documenting thankfulness. Documenting our gratitude for life’s blessings can transform our lives.

For You

After reading Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts, I started a gratitude journal. In this journal I record the little and big things I am grateful  for. (Note: the journal in these pictures is no longer in print but you might be interested in this One Thousand Gifts Devotional Journal or one of these gratitude journals.)

This is a beautiful form of memory keeping.

In that book I have recorded:

• getting pregnant
• bedtime kisses
• a new job
• delicious dinners

Each of these gifts is a piece of my story. I think a personal gratitude journal is something that anyone can start, and a legacy of thankfulness is a beautiful one to leave.

For Your Family

In addition to the personal gratitude journal, Blessings also offers a family gratitude journal  based on Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts, and words don’t do its beauty and practicality justice. (Update: the family gratitude journal is now out of print.)

I think every single family should own one of these books.

Truly, if this series motivates you to do anything, I hope it motives you to purchase a family gratitude journal.

I think it is that important and meaningful.

Family gratitude is life-changing.

The journal can be used in a host of different ways. Each family member can record what they are thankful for or a family scribe can write down the day’s blessings. I love the idea of incorporating your child’s handwriting in the book.

Like the birthday book that I love, it includes pockets for special mementos and spots for pictures.

It is easy to do (no matter how busy you are!) and the finished product is one that will be treasured in your family for years to come. Imagine looking back in 20 years on the things your six-year-old was grateful for.

Instilling gratitude in our children’s lives from a young age is a attribute that will bless them their whole lives.

And by discussing and recording things we are thankful for, life change happens.

Already, the more we talk about blessings with Elias (who is just three), the more thoughtful he seems to become. Prayer time often includes thanks for his teachers, his friends, even Buzz Lightyear and pumpkins.

This gratitude journal is a wonderful memory keeping tool for documenting your family’s blessings.

And with Thanksgiving a month away, it seems like the perfect time to start documenting thankfulness, doesn’t it?

Today, buy one of these gratitude journals and make a commitment to pursue gratitude as a family.

 

Special thanks to my sweet friend and confidant Ann Voskamp for the photos and, more importantly, for inspiring and motivating me to live a life of eucharisteo, giving thanks in all circumstances.

 

This is the 26th day in a series: 31 Days of Memory Keeping. Check out all the posts here.