November is upon us again! And if you have gotten to know my family & I through this little blog over the years, you know that Thanksgiving is a big deal to us. For years it has frustrated me that Halloween and Christmas have started to encroach upon each other so much that Thanksgiving is often an after thought– a blip in the radar between two huge commercial holidays.

Now, as much as I love Christmas music, for a long time I have been searching out music that would help my kids and I focus on our blessings and all that we have to be grateful for during this time of year. For the past few years I have created playlists that we have listened to throughout the month, and it has been an amazing addition to our season of gratitude. Christmas music will be played in full force here in our home– but starting the day after Thanksgiving. (Brandon Heath would be so proud.)

This year I have expanded the size of the playlist from just over 80 tracks to 100. That adds up to over six and a half hours of music!

It goes without saying that taste in music is entirely subjective, but I hope that some of these songs will appeal to you and your family as well. The playlist includes a mix of indie, folk, and contemporary Christian music that is especially appropriate for this time of year. Some songs speak directly of giving thanks and gratitude, some are traditional folk songs associated with this time of year, some are bluegrass hymns with a rustic nature that just seems to suit the season, and others are simply more general in their praise of God and all the blessings He freely bestows to His children.  Collectively, all of them have helped our family keep the focus in our home on giving thanks at this special time of year.

My favorite new track on the playlist this year is Andrew Peterson’s “Don’t You Want to Thank Someone.”

What’s your favorite song of gratitude and praise? I’d love to hear.

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(If you are reading this post on an RSS feed reader, please be aware that there is a widget link to my Spotify playlist on my site which will allow you to listen to the entire playlist for free. You can also search Spotify for the playlist “give thanks.”)

If you don’t want to create a Spotify account, here is a list of the tracks (via affiliate links) on my playlist if you are curious:

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Let this list serve as a jumping off point for you to create a Thanksgiving playlist of your own!

May God’s blessings be with you and your loved ones this holiday season & always.

♥