While driving home one beautiful bright-blue-sky day, I was captivated by the gorgeous majesty of our northeastern autumn. The child in me itched to get out in the fresh air and frolic, so I pulled off the road and took a deep breath as I opened the door. The air smelled delicious, and I felt a nostalgic excitement as I ventured among the leaves blanketing the countryside. Some leaves had already become brittle, adding the familiar crunch to my steps. But many of them were still fresh with color. I grabbed a plastic bag from my back seat and searched for perfect specimens.

When I got home, my impulse was to press them between pages in a book, but why? I had no long-term plan for my collection. Not wanting just to throw them away, I placed the leaves between the phone books pages.

Shortly before Thanksgiving I ruffled the phone books contents onto the kitchen counter. The leaves still held their rich hues. What was I going to do with a bunch of leaves?

As I set the holiday table, the first idea for the leaves came to me. I wrote every persons name on a leaf and placed them on the plates to indicate seating. That looked great, but what to do with the rest?

Father, how can I keep the focus on being thankful instead of on just enjoying a sumptuous meal? He whispered this scripture in my ear: Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits (Psalm 103:2).

At that moment I knew exactly what to do with the rest of the leaves. His many blessings. My mind started racing, and, on the underside of the leaves with a black marker, I wrote messages of Gods love and then placed them around the tables centerpiece. Jesus, Gods gift of grace, each other, our health, adequate clothing, the Bible, eternal salvation, cars that run, shoes, rainfall, shared laughter, the Great Commission, chances to share Jesus, the Holy Spirit, comfort of family, friends, etc.

As everyone arrived and the excitement of the holiday flooded my home, we eventually took our seats around the festive table. After asking Gods blessing, I introduced the Leaves of Thanksgiving game.

Starting with the person to my left, whenever I dinged my glass with my spoon, that person was to select three leaves from the centerpiece and read what was written, saying, I thank God for each one. If the leaf was blank, they could express something for which they were personally thankful.

The warmth we shared as we acknowledged the reality of Gods faithful care will be cherished for years to come. I pass our new game on to you with a prayer that this Thanksgiving your family too will be blessed with the joy of remembering all His benefits.

Sandy Plummer is a counselor and writer living in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.