Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving 2020

Thanksgiving

This lovely old hymn was a favorite of my mother’s.  She often told of how she ran the words through her mind while she was laboring to have my brother.  Thanks for pain.  It’s something I’m thinking about a lot these days.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers.  You encourage me!

Blessed Thanksgiving!

I’ve always loved this painting of that first Thanksgiving.  May it reflect the celebration of a our gratitude to God for His blessings over this past year.

A Couple of Days Off

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in America.  I have lots of food prep to do today, and company coming tomorrow.  My heart if full of gratitude that, for the first time in over two years, I am able to host the gathering here.  I love my God, Who has blessed my life so richly.

Psalm 107 is a favorite of mine.  Here’s the first verse, which is repeated at intervals throughout the Psalm.  Read it.  You’ll be glad you did.

To all my American friends, and any others around the world who may be celebrating this day, best wishes for a warm and wonderful time with family and friends, and in remembering the God Who gave us our wonderful world.

 

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in America.  Of course,  visions of pilgrims in tall black hats, their wives in mob caps, Indians sharing their knowledge and their food, that first feast that went on for several days, crowd into my mind.  History revisionists keep trying to alter how events happened, but we still have the original diaries and letters of people who were there to keep us straight.

 

We know that hundreds fled Europe in order to be free to practice their faith; we also know that it was a long struggle in the New World before it became universally safe to practice one’s own faith without fear of  legal reprisal. Not everyone who fled religious persecution in Europe was  a Puritan. There was, for instance, the Catholic colony (Maryland) and the Quaker colony (Pennsylvania).  Later Rhode Island became known as “the little Baptist state.”

I just deleted a couple of long paragraphs. I don’t want to focus on the negative this morning.  Instead, I want to be thankful that today I will spend a lot of time in the kitchen, prepping for tomorrow’s meal. That my kitchen is new, beautiful, and very nearly finished. That we have more than enough food. That we are healthy and still able to host the meal here. That I still have one daughter and her family who live nearby, and will grace our table tomorrow. That it will be a relaxed, calm day. We will enjoy the food. The men will probably work on a couple of projects together. We’ll play games, and the kids are all old enough to enjoy doing so.  We have no avid football fans in the mix, so the TV won’t be on. I’m thankful for that.

You won’t see me until next Monday.  The kids traditionally stay overnight with us on Thanksgiving night, and I’ll be busy with that.  On Monday, we’ll resume our study in Ephesians, Chapter 2 and verse 4.  I’m thankful for that little gem of a letter, and I hope it is blessing you as well.

So I’m wishing you all a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving Day. I pray that you will indeed find many things for which to be thankful.  If you are traveling, that you will be safe.  If you are staying home, that you will enjoy a day with friends and/or family.

May the God of all comfort give you peace and hope today, tomorrow, and every day.