Devotion: I Show my Friends that I'm Thankful for Them

Hi! My name is Cuddle-Puppy. I came over to Bible Kids Fun Zone to share with you about how you can show your friends that you are thankful for them.

Devotion: I Show my Friends that I'm Thankful for Them

Cuddle-Puppy was running around like crazy. It was almost Thanksgiving, and his friend Bouncy Bear was going to come over for...well.... sort of a second Thanksgiving dinner, after he had dinner with his family. He was rushing around because he was looking for his craft supplies. He wanted to make Bouncy something.

Just then his mom walked in the room. "Cuddle-Puppy, what are you doing rushing around like that?"

"I want to show Bouncy Bear how thankful I am for him. I want to make him a card about being friends. Thanksgiving is just a couple days away, so I've got to hurry!" "Oh, that's really nice!", his mom replied, "Why did you decide to that?"

"Well, after I heard the Bible verse about treating others as I want to be treated, I got an idea. I wanted to do something to let Bouncy know how much I love him and like having him as my friend. I wanted to do something really special. So, I'm going to make him a gift for thanksgiving, and a card too!

"What a great idea! Maybe I can help you", mom offered, " What do you need to make the gift and the card? I just got some new craft supplies yesterday."

"Cool!, that would be great!, Cuddle-Puppy said, "What did you get? I want to make him some bookmarks about friends and a really nice card too. Do you have anything that I could use for that?"

"Yes, I think I do. Let's go see." replied mom enthusiastically.

So the two of them went off together and found all the supplies they needed. "Boy, I'm really thankful for all these things you got for me to make stuff with, mom. Thanks a lot for thinking of me!"

"You're welcome Cuddle-Puppy", mom replied.

So, Cuddle-Puppy worked hard for a long time. When he was finally finished he showed mom what he made for Bouncy. "Wow! I think Bouncy is really going to like what you made him!" mom said. So then Cuddle-Puppy wrapped the gift real carefully.

When Thanksgiving day came a couple days later, Bouncy Bear arrived at the door. With a big smile they greeted each other and hugged. Cuddle-Puppy couldn't wait any longer. He had to give Bouncy his gift and card right now. "Bouncy, I have something for you!" Cuddle Puppy said with a big smile on his face.

"Oh...well, look, I have something for you too!" Bouncy replied. Cuddle-Puppy laughed and said, "People don't usually give each other gifts on Thanksgiving...that's usually for Christmas, but I just think you're extra-special, so I made you something." Bouncy laughed too. "I made you something too, Cuddle-Puppy!", Bouncy explained.

Bouncy opened his gift first. Wow! It was the most thoughtful gift he ever got. It was a set of four bookmarks that told him how much Cuddle-Puppy appreciated his friendship! "Aw-w-w-w, these are really great, Bouncy! That was so kind of you to spend all that time to make me something special....Thank you so much!", Cuddle-Puppy told his friend. Then Cuddle-Puppy opened his gift from Bouncy. It was a set of stickers that he could use in a photo album about friends! And, with the stickers were some photos of the two of them. Bouncy had taken the pictures last week, then had the film developed. "Wow!, Bouncy, what a great idea! Thank you so much...now we can save the memories of our friendship. Maybe we can make it together! We can add to it all the time! What a cool gift! Thanks for taking the pictures and making me the stickers! You're the best friend anybody could ever have!" Cuddle-Puppy said.

So, the two of them enjoyed each other's company the rest of the day. They had a wonderful dinner, helped dad do the dishes afterwards. Then, while they were having a dessert of cocoa and cookies, they started making their friendship album together! They had a great time,since they both felt loved and appreciated by each other. And, when they said their prayers that night, they said a special Thank you for their special friend and the great day they each had. THE END

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QUESTION & ANSWER TIME:

I hoped you like the lesson. Can anyone think of some other ways we can show our friends that we are thankful for them? Think about the Bible verse and ask the Lord to help you think about how you would want to be treated. (Let the kids think for a few minutes, then have them raise their hands and answer one at a time. After hearing their ideas, offer these suggestions in addition:

Bake them a birthday cake on their birthday, be a good listener, tell them the things you appreciate about them (sense of humor, kindness, etc.), give them a card that expresses your feelings, help them when they need help with something, plan a fun activity for the two of you to do together, introduce them to your other friends, invite them to special activities, invite them to church, be happy when they are happy; sad when they are sad, etc.

© copyright Virginia Sigle / biblekidsfunzone.com

Dear God,

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for giving me special friends that mean so much to me.

Please help me to show them how much I love them and appreciate them.

Please help me treat them how I want to be treated!

In Jesus Name, Amen.