October Theme - Be Grateful

"Look for the Sunlight in the Clouds"

Gordon B. Hinckley

This week kicks off the first month of our Family Theme, Way to Be, based on the book, Way to Be - 9 ways to be happy and make something of your life by Gordon B. Hinckley. The month of October is geared toward the principle, Be Grateful, perfect for leading up to Thanksgiving. We spent Monday night reading the chapter from the book, Be Grateful, and discussing things we can do all month to be more grateful. Here are a few things we came up with:

1. Gratitude Quotes - We chose three quotes from the chapter to be the monthly memorization. We are encouraging everyone in the family to memorize them. Prizes are awarded for participation.

"There are two little words in the English language that perhaps mean more than all others. They are 'thank you'."

"Let a spirit of thanksgiving guide and bless your days and nights. Work at it. You will find that it will yield wonderful results."

"Look for the sunlight in the clouds."

2. Gratitude for Eachother - We created a sign for each person in the family that says, "I am grateful for _____ because:. The goal is to fill up each person's page by the end of the month, stating specific things we're grateful for. When one is grateful for another, service ensues and love follows. I'm hoping for more love in our home! Each family member wrote on every page before refreshments were served. Love those no bake cookies!

3. Gratitude for others - I've always been a big thank you note person, thanks to my Mama. I've shared my thoughts before (read all about it) so I won't go into detail. However, I will stress the importance of expressing thanks often, and thank you notes are the perfect way to do so. This month we have a goal to write 100 thank you notes as a family to show gratitude for the many, many people whom have blessed our lives. When a note is written, it is recorded on a square in the below chart.

4. Examples of Gratitude in the Scriptures - For our family devotional each night, our scripture readings are geared around gratitude and thankfulness. I've enjoyed researching these and recording my thoughts. It's very rewarding when the children come up with their own as well.

5. Words of Thanks - We'd like to learn to say thank you in many different languages. We're reinforcing the children's song, Children All Over the World

Other ideas are in the works which we may or may not implement. I don't want to be too overboard, because I have a great desire for our family to be successful with those things that we introduce this month.

I'm grateful for the inspiration I received for our family theme for 2012/2013. I'm grateful for a supportive husband and children who are taking it seriously. 

I'm grateful to you for reading my blog. Now, go out and Be Grateful!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!