Soon we will be entering into the time of Thanksgiving.
It really should be a life time of giving thanks, but we have a ‘calendar day’ we set aside for a big meal.
A warm inviting day full of family, friends and perhaps a fire in the fireplace, with the smell of turkey and baked pies cooking in the oven.
I remember the days of younger years, when we would go to my grandma’s house. She made everything.
The meal was carefully chosen and always the same.
Never changing the menu of the day which was turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans and bacon, gravy. Oh and always the relish plates full of a variety of pickles and olives and carrot sticks. Grandma took great pride in making the meal and she did it up into her early 70’s all by herself.
I loved those times, when I could see the chandelier’s light reflect multiple prisms of beautiful colors, on the white ceiling in the dining room.
We didn’t always have warm fuzzy moments as a family, but it was a tradition I do remember.
The table was beautiful with china settings and crystal glasses, candles flickering, and often a beautiful bouquet of fall flowers as a center piece.
I learned the value of a beautiful table. Then as I became older and wiser I also learned the value of conversation and tradition.
We make the fancy dinner always on Thanksgiving.
Last year there were only three of us and it was still a festive time of sharing life together.
Thanksgiving is a time to pause… to think and to remember.
Giving thanks with a grateful heart, to the God who allows us to remain here one more season.
Life is challenging for sure. I am thinking of a family who will have this holiday without their loved ones.
Tragic circumstances took them away and it is a difficult journey to enter into the ‘holidays’ remembering.
Thanksgiving is a time of slowing down, sipping the coffee a bit slower, eating the pie and enjoying it.
Sharing conversation and prayers, enjoying the quiet time spent together.
It is a time to remember what we are giving thanks for and why we need to slow down.
In life we all need a time to pause. A time to think. A time to remember.
Traditions are good and wonderful, but let’s try to do something this year a little different.
Let’s try to take note of ‘what we are giving thanks for,’ and remember all that we have been given.
1 Chronicles 29:13(NIV)
Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
Psalm 7:17(NIV) I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;
I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
Psalm 69:30(NIV) I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Without God, our lives would be without purpose and without hope.
In this season for giving thanks and remembering, let us give thanks for his glorious love and provision for our lives. Let us begin to give thanks with a grateful heart, for we have many things to be grateful for.