Wishing you all a very blessed Thanksgiving! Gary & I have so much to be thankful for – our family, our health, our ministry, our travels – but what holds all that thankfulness together is our faith in the God of the Universe who sent his Son to invite us into His Family! May your day be filled with love and grace, and hopefully some pretty good food!
Tag Archives: Thanksgiving
On this Thanksgiving Eve
Our Father in Heaven,
If ever we had a cause to offer unto Thee our fervent thanks, surely it is now, on the Eve of our Thanksgiving Day, when we, the people of this Nation, are comfortable, well fed, well clad, and blessed with good things beyond our deserving. May gratitude, the rarest of all virtues, be the spirit of our observance.
Let not feasting, football, and festivity end in forgetfulness of God. May the desperate need of the rest of the world, and our own glorious heritage, remind us of the God who led our Fathers every step of the way by which they advanced to the character of an independent nation.
May the faith and conviction of George Washington be renewed in us as we remember his words:
…there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exits in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained…
For if we do not have the grace to thank Thee for all that we have and enjoy, how can we have the effrontery to seek Thy further blessings? God, give us grateful hearts.
(a prayer from the Senate of the United States, November 26, 1947, by Rev. Dr. Peter Marshall, Chaplain)
Borrowed from Bob Hostetler’s blog – One Prayer A Day (which I would recommend ANY day….)
Mondays are for Memories – Thanksgiving, 1990
Today’s memory is from long before any of us had even heard of the word “Blogging” – probably before even the internet. It was the year that, unbeknownst to me, I was on the cutting edge of culinary deliciousness when I introduced a “new” vegetable to the Thanksgiving menu.
What Thanksgiving Means to Me
Abigail Fitzpatrick, age 10
Grade 5
To me, Thanksgiving is a really special day when we all thank God, the creator, for everything we have and all the blessings that he has given us.
One year I went to my aunt and uncle’s house for Thanksgiving. My Gramma was there too. So was my other aunt and uncle. We could all smell the yummy food cooking and being made and taken out of the oven.
Then we saw it – the horror of our lifetimes! Brussels sprouts!
“Acckk!†we all thought to ourselves.
“Do we have to eat that?†asked my 9 year old cousin Jos.
“Yes, you must each have one,†said my Aunt Stephanie.
My cousin Tim, age 13, tried to give his to Cricket, my aunt’s dog, but the dog was smart too.
So we ate the rest of the yummy food and tried to bear the horrid taste of the Brussels sprouts.
In spite of the Brussels sprouts, Thanksgiving really means a lot to me.
Abigail Joie Fitzpatrick, 10
Abby is now the mom to five sweet kiddos, and while I cannot attest to whether or not Brussels sprouts are ever on her kids plates, I do know that kale makes regular appearances. I must not have done too much damage!
Happy Thanksgiving Week, everyone!
Sabbath Rest – Come, Ye Thankful People Come
As we begin Thanksgiving week, it seemed only right to looks up some classic Thanksgiving hymns. This one was first published in 1849! This is a beautiful a cappella arrangement by Ben Everson.
Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God our Maker doth provide
For our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home.
For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.
Even so, Lord, quickly come,
Bring Thy final harvest home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
In Thy garner to abide;
Come, with all Thine angels come,
Raise the glorious harvest home.
Look back – and give thanks
One of our favorite quotes these days is very simple –
As I look back on even just the last month, I can find so many things to give thanks for.
For the work that God has given us.
Everything from re-siding a building –
to installing a snackshop window.
to painting
to sorting and packing clothes
to painting lambs
we were thankful to be able contribute as we were able. Continue reading Look back – and give thanks