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 always 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 couple of 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.

This year I have more than doubled the size of the playlist, expanding it from a little over 40 tracks to now more than 80. That adds up to over five hours worth 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.

(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.”)