Sharing Time: I Thank Thee, Dear Father

By Judy Edwards

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good (Ps. 136:1).

I Thank Thee, Dear Father

  • Raul, 11, Lima, Peru: His family could be sealed in the temple.

  • Elizabeth, 4, Coulsdon, England: School.

  • T.R., 6, New Delhi, India: The Book of Mormon.

  • Merari, 11, Cuernavaca, Mexico: Her parents, food, and clothing.

  • Brad, 9, Virginia, United States: The sabbath.

  • Keiko, 8, Tochigi, Japan: Fruits and flowers.

  • William, 5, Alabama, United States: Snakes.

  • Jennifer, 11, Dumfries, Scotland: Her flute.

  • Leonardo, 8, Bogotá, Colombia: Missionaries who taught his family the gospel.

  • Lindsay, 9, Tervuren, Belgium: Art and sports.

  • Seth, 4, Washington, United States: Library books.

  • Stacy, 9, Plympton, Australia: Horses.

  • Jonathan, 9, Saint Albans, England: Nature and camping.

  • Brynn, 9, New Mexico, United States: Rocks and shells.

  • Kristoffer, 8, Alberta, Canada: Baptism.

  • Lyssa, 6, Kaiserslautern, Germany: Her CTR ring.

  • Dan-Michael, 4, Rota, Spain: His best friend, his grandma.

  • Lea Celeste, 5, Trinidad, Chile: Music and doctors.

  • Ryan, 7, Utah, United States: Bugs and spiders.

  • Akihisa, 4, Tochigi, Japan: Food, especially egg rolls.

  • Eric, 6, La Rippe, Switzerland: Castles and hiking.

  • Samantha, 8, Missouri, United States: Writing in her journal.

  • Ethan, 6, Iowa, United States: Joseph Smith.

  • Tara, 10, Arkansas, United States: Her family and the gospel.

________________________________, _____, Your name age

______________________________________ Where you live

______________________________________ Blessings

When we think of our blessings, we feel grateful. Thanking Heavenly Father for our blessings brings us peace.

Instructions: Some of the blessings named by the children on this page are hidden in the picture on the next page. Find and color: a tent, fourteen flowers, scriptures, a CTR ring, missionaries, a banana, a pear, a lemon, a journal, Joseph Smith, a snake, a baseball, a baseball bat, a grandmother, two shells, an artist’s paintbrush, a horse, a flute, a spider, and a loaf of bread.

coloring page(click to view larger)

Illustrated by Shauna Mooney Kawasaki

Sharing Time Ideas

  1. 1.

    Help children create a “Count Your Blessings” display on a chalkboard or poster, using cutouts of stars in the sky, flowers in a meadow, leaves on a tree, shells on a seashore, etc. Give each child one of the items on which to write a blessing he or she is thankful for.

  2. 2.

    Have each child create a page of blessings for her or his Book of Peace (See Sharing Time Idea #3, Friend, January 1994, page 44).

  3. 3.

    Invite classes to pantomime blessings they are thankful for, and allow others to guess what is being portrayed.

  4. 4.

    Sing “thankfulness” songs from the Children’s Songbook (see Index—“Gratitude”) and let the children identify what blessings are being mentioned.

  5. 5.

    State a blessing for which you are grateful, then toss a beanbag to a child, who then mentions something he or she is thankful for. The child then tosses the beanbag to another child. Continue until all have had a turn.

  6. 6.

    Divide into classes and have each child describe a blessing for which she or he is thankful. The other class members should see if they can guess what it is before the child runs out of clues. For example: “I am grateful for something alive. It has a name. It has long hair. It does tricks. It likes to go for walks. It is my pet. I am grateful for my dog, Bowser.”