Thanksgiving is a great time of food, family, and fun (the fun in our family includes watching the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game!). But did you know that Thanksgiving is also a great time and opportunity to reach out.

Here are seven simple but powerful ways to reach out this Thanksgiving and have a "missional" Thanksgiving. (A thank you to ministry friends Tony Williams and Patrick Luse for sharing some of the ideas!)

1. Invite a FriendSpeak/ESL student or other Internationals over for Thanksgiving. (As this is an American holiday, they may not have experienced this before.)
   
   
2. Invite a neighbor or co-worker and their family over for Thanksgiving. (Many people have moved here and do not have family close by.)
   
   
3. Adopt a family in need and buy and bring them a Thanksgiving meal.
   
   
4. Take a Thanksgiving meal and/or toiletry items/socks down to a homeless ministry and share it with them, or take a meal to a nursing home. Write a card to them giving thanks to God.
   
   
5. Write Thanksgiving cards with a snack and personally deliver to co-workers/neighbors, writing in the card how you are thankful for that person and their families.
   
   
6. Make “Black Friday” shopping a day in which you take your kids to look and shop for others in need to give away.
   
   
7. Have unchurched friends, neighbors, or co-workers over for indoor or outdoor games, or go together to dinner and a movie. Build a relationship with them this holiday!

What other ideas do you have of how to reach out and bless people this Thanksgiving?