Table 8 met for our last meeting of 2019 just this last Monday, and I wanted to give something to the ladies that I had seen Emily do and had done myself a few years ago. It wasn’t a big or expensive gift. It was a gift that would allow them to see the blessings of their daily life. It was a blessing jar.
For those who don’t know what this looks like or what it is, a blessing/thankful jar is a container that you can use to hold your good and fun memories for the year. I kept mine on an end table with scraps of paper beside it. If something exciting happened like a promotion or a visit from a friend from out of town, I’d jot down what happened along with the day’s date. When I had mother/daughter dates, I would keep the receipt for where we went or the ticket stub from the movie to throw in the jar. At the end of the year, my girls and I had so much fun going back through the papers that I had saved! It reminded us of the countless good times and memories we had.
I haven’t had my jar out in several years. But I realized this year, that it felt as if stress levels for people in general have been at an all-time high. I decided that it was time to counteract the stress of everyday life with the blessing reminders of what God provides for us.
Rather than have one big jar for each my friends, I made smaller jars. I explained that the smaller jars work almost identically to the large jars. Rather than look at them at the end of the year, however, I encouraged them to do their blessings by the month!
“At the end of every month,” I explained, “pull out what you’ve put in your jar to remind yourselves of the blessings you’ve been graced with. Save the papers in a baggie with the month marked. At the end of the year look over all of the blessings from the last 12 months and be thankful for what God has done!”
It truly makes a difference in our attitudes when we can be reminded of the good things God allows in our lives. I encourage you today that if you don’t have one, start one! And if you’ve put yours away like I did, join me in bringing it back out and being encouraged by the blessings that come your way. It’s a great way to be thankful!
~Erin
Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; –Ephesians 5:20
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