A Thankful Heart

Cairo has another resident home again. I made it back without any glitches; I'm not even too tired- I awoke early enough to see Sam off to work! I took my cup of coffee to the outside patio (in my duster, Megan!) along with my computer. My intention was to look up scriptures about Thanksgiving. I found myself, after reading a few familiar Psalms, distracted by the links at the bottom of the page.  I clicked on one about how the true reason for Thanksgiving gets lost in parades,  the rush to eat, watch football, and scan the Black Friday ads for deals for the next holiday, Christmas! 

I think it drew my attention because these are the things I LOVE about Thanksgiving!  And I love doing it at my Mom and Dad's house with family! This Thanksgiving Sam and I are in Cairo-the only other Thanksgiving I can remember (in recent years) not being with my folks was a disaster--we went to Cabo San Lucas and Sheyenne had an ATV accident that necessitated an airlift to a California hospital while David and I were stranded there the duration of our vacation (another story in itself)!

So, what I love about Thanksgiving at my folks is the family that gathers. Last year we had 24 in my parent's home. They made the basement into a dormitory. The young families with little kids got the bedrooms. I think David got the couch. I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade (I love it.)  We had an air hockey tournament. We celebrated lots of significant November birthdays. We played games like bingo and a hilarious one with photos. We told what we were thankful for, ate a wonderful meal followed by the traditional football game with the grandkids. This is really my Dad and the kids playing, with a few adults jumping in from time to time.  

While some football goes on outside, the Real Football is going on inside. Full of delicious turkey dinner,  the living room becomes the arena of fans. While some watch, others snooze or put together a puzzle set out for the occasion. IN THE OTHER ROOM is where you will find the Black Friday Shoppers!  Dad makes a Quick Trip run early in the morning for newspapers so each of us shoppers will have our own coupons.  Excessive you might think-but the actual savings more than pays for the papers! We sip coffee while perusing the ads, with our notecards and pencils nearby to prioritize the next days shopping.  We repeat this activity several times throughout the afternoon.

The next morning, about 3:45 am we shoppers roll out of bed, don our elf ears and Santa hats and head out the door for the first of several 'doorbusters' sales. Coffee in one hand, ads and coupons in the other, and our lists tucked into the pocket on our purses, off we go. We are not out to 'shop' necessarily. We are out to 'bag' our loot! We hit Best Buy and Michael's first,  Target and Walmart too.

About 9am we stop for breakfast at First Watch Restaurant; then we are on the road again. By now, the traffic gets thicker and the rush is more of a crawl from one place to another. We make our way to our favorite game shop where we make the shop owner's day by showing up in our festive garb! This is as much a tradition as the turkey itself! Our family loves board games, and Settlers of Catan especially, so the trip is a must- to find out if there is a new extension for our stockings!

We usually stop for lunch, usually at the Chinese restaurant. We evaluate our lists, crossing or checking off what we have found. We regroup. We are slowing down. Some years, we attend a craft show at the convention building. We finally head for home, the back of the SUV packed to the hilt, bulging with packages under the black shroud we use to hide them from prying eyes.  We know that when we get home, the menfolk and kids will be relaxing, having been to a movie that afternoon. We know that Lasagne will be in the oven. We know that Christmas movies will be on one tv this evening. We know that Sam and I will probably be the only ones watching "It's a Wonderful Life".  I love Thanksgiving!

I will miss my family and our traditions this year. I don't know what we are going to do 'for' Thanksgiving, in that I don't know who we will share it with, or where. I do know I have a lot to be thankful for, therefore, we will be giving thanks to God.

So the link drew my attention. It was from Revive Our Hearts Ministry with Nancy DeMoss interviewing Barbara Rainey, who wrote the book: Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember. This is a story of the first Thanksgivings, written for families to share together, focusing on the Pilgrims' faith in those gatherings--a story your child will not hear in grade school. She makes a good point in the interview: we don't want to miss Thanksgiving because if we miss that, we miss some of the joy God has for us. It gives us joy when we are thankful, as well as bringing joy to our Father.

God was obviously involved in the founding of our country.

The Pilgrims endured hunger, filth, ridicule and death on their voyage to the New Land. But they kept praising God, they kept trusting in him, and they remained kind to the sailors. They exhibited grace in a harsh time.

The pilgrims landed in a place they did not expect to be. But the area they landed in was vacant due to a plague that killed the Indians dwelling there. God provided for them. They did not have to conquer their territory-it was peaceful to land where God had taken them.

The winters were harsh and the people continued to suffer from the elements yet they were free to worship God. They were the first missionaries to the New Land. The indians they met saw they gave thanks and praise to God. Then, the Pilgrims prayed for rain to quench the thirst of their crops and God answered with a long, gentle rain, amazing the Indians who had tried their traditional ways to invoke rain.

It fortifies my faith to read about these founders of our Christian Heritage who gave thanks to God for His deliverance, His provision, His mission.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, we will not be watching parades or football, we may not be eating turkey and dressing, we won't be perusing ads for Christmas shopping, but we will have a "Thanks-Giving" here!  

 I am thankful for my faith-that Jesus Christ died for me. I am thankful for friends and family who love and support me and my family. I am thankful for the heritage passed on to me from our parents, that I now see manifested in the lives of my kids and grandkids. I am thankful for my husband, Sam. I am thankful...