Thanksgiving Celebrations

[Denadii]

On 11/7/2017 at 1:46 PM, Sinbad said:

Hi Annette don't want to sound silly ? I don't know what thanksgiving is it's not a UK or Irish tradition 

Are you ready for this?  Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the UK for far longer than the US or Canada existed....They have always celebrated a 'feast' called Home and Harvest..

Harvest Home, also called Ingathering, is a traditional English harvest festival, celebrated from antiquity. It has survived to modern times in isolated regions. Participants celebrate the last day of harvest in late September by singing, shouting, and decorating the village with boughs. The cailleac, or last sheaf of corn (grain), which represents the spirit of the field, is made into a harvest doll and drenched with water as a rain charm. This sheaf is saved until spring planting. The ancient festival also included the symbolic murder of the grain spirit, as well as rites for expelling the devil. A similar festival was traditionally held in parts of Ireland, Scotland, and northern Europe.

I find it rather interesting that the Encyclopedia Britannica says it was also called the “Ingathering” (a term used for the Feast of Sukkot), and that it has been celebrated from antiquity. The English self-identify as being “British.” Why? I think it’s because in Hebrew “Brit” means covenant and “ish” means man. Keeping this in mind, let me ask you a question. What if this “ingathering” celebrated from antiquity by these covenant men began as the Feast of Sukkot? What if it then devolved over many generations into its pagan form, as it did under King Jeroboam? And what if the Pilgrims, who we already know from primary sources–letters, diaries, and legal documents–renounced Christmas and Easter, which they recognized as being pagan, chose this particular time of the year to gather together to give thanks to the Most High because they wanted to return to a biblically mandated celebration?

History documents that during the 4th and 5th centuries Celtic assemblies in Britain, under the teaching of great men of God like St. Patrick, the missionary to Ireland, and Columba, kept the 7th day Sabbath and the “Festivals of the Eternal” found in Leviticus 23, and ate biblically clean. (The Celtic Church in Britain by Leslie Hardinge/ Truth Triumphant by B.G. Wilkinson)

But before I continue with my hypothesis allow me to share some history that should be most interesting to those who’ve returned to the Hebraic roots of their faith, facts about a once popular (and now defamed by the revisionist-LEFT) historical figure named Christopher Columbus. The following passage was excerpted from “The Light And The Glory” by Peter Marshall and David Manuel.

“…Their final solution to the ‘Jewish problem’ was disseminated by a royal decree issued in the spring of 1492: All Jews were given three months to get out of the country. So Columbus had to settle for a heavier, slower flagship than he would have desired….As they reached the place where the Tinto joined the Saltés, just before emptying into the ocean, a last shipload of Jews was also waiting for the tide. They too were leaving now. . . It is doubtful they thought of one another beyond a routine log entry. And even if they had, none of that forlorn shipload of Jewish exiles could have dreamed that the three other ships on the river were leading the way to a land which would one day provide the first welcome haven to their people.” 

Peter Marshall and David Manuel included this following translated excerpt below from an obscure volume of Columbus’s Book of Prophecies that is available only in Spanish.

“It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel his hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration is from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures…I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence. For the execution of the journey to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had promised…”

More recently, a number of Spanish scholars–Jose Erugo, Celso Garcia de la Riega, Otero Sanchez and Nicholas Dias Perez–have determined that Columbus was himself a Jew. His survival depended upon suppression of that fact during Spain’s Inquisition. But Jewish bloodline or not, he was indeed a believer in Yeshua, as his journal entries prove.

In their book, The Light and the Glory, the authors related the inspiring history of Columbus, which set the tone for the rest of their book, written in the late 1980s. It documents the special call of God on America and those founding it–men and women who like the children of Israel made a covenant with God, only to have later generations break it, time and time again. (I also recommend an article titled, “Historical Record Shows Christopher Columbus Actually Was A Great Man/ Leftist lies vs. reality” by Michael J. Knowles of the Daily Wire.)

The authors of “the Light and the Glory” raise the question: What if God deals with whole nations the way he deals with individuals? After all, Israel was chosen to be a light to all the other nations. And Deuteronomy 7:6-9 tells us that had they obeyed, they would have been mightily blessed. The problem was they never stayed faithful; they never kept their covenant.

Now back to the Pilgrims. In the Plymouth Colony, from 1620s to 1850s Christmas and Easter, associated as they were with paganism and idolatry, were illegal. For this reason, I am quite sure that the Pilgrims did not celebrate that first Thanksgiving as Harvest Home. Furthermore, prior to their departure for the New World, those we call the Pilgrims had left England for Holland in search of religious freedom. They remained in Holland a decade, living among Sephardic Jews, who had been expelled from Spain in 1492. For the ten years the Pilgrims spent there, they witnessed the celebration of that set apart time called Sukkoth.  Pilgrim historian Caleb Johnson suggest that “the Pilgrims indeed modeled a festive day on the biblical holiday Sukkoth.”

Like Sukkot, that first Thanksgiving in 1621 was eaten outdoors. And as our Jewish brothers traditionally welcome friends to join them in their Sukkah to share a meal, these Pilgrims invited the Wampanoag tribe to their first Thanksgiving table. History only records three days of feasting. But might it have lasted seven days plus one? I don’t know. History doesn’t say. But at that very first Thanksgiving they recited Psalms 106 and 107, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His kindness endures forever,” just as they do in the Jewish liturgy for Sukkot.

William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth Colony studied the Hebrew Scriptures, and history recounts that the Pilgrims saw themselves as those “other vinedressers” to whom the vineyard was rented out, according to Matthew 21. And they saw the New World (right or wrong) as a type of Promised Land.  

Matthew 21:38-41. But seeing the son, the vinedressers said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and possess his inheritance. And taking him, they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers? They said to Him, Bad men! He will miserably destroy them, and he will rent out the vineyard to other vinedressers who will give to him the fruits in their seasons. 

I will leave you with one final item I found on a website for an extension course in literature from the University of Kentucky. I hope that as a part of this Hebrew Roots restoration, God’s last great move to restore all things before Yeshua returns (Acts 3:21), you will find this particular bit of history most gratifying. (I have changed the spelling on certain words in this Bradford quote to modern English to make it easier to read.)

“In 1650, three years after he had ceased to chronicle the happenings at Plymouth for posterity, and at the age of sixty years, William Bradford took up the study of Hebrew. In a copy book he listed over a thousand words and a number of common Hebrew phrases, with their English translations. Scholars have remarked that many of the words and phrases concern the duties of fathers to their sons. On one page he paused to explain why, at an advanced age, he had embarked on this new path of learning:

“Though I am grown aged, yet I have a longing desire to see, with my own eyes, something of that most ancient language, and holy tongue, in which the law and Oracles of God were written; and in which God and angels spoke to the Holy Patriarchs of old time; and what names were given to things at the Creation.” 

“For William Bradford, learning Hebrew was an act of filial respect. It was an act of devotion through which a son of the Church sought to honor his spiritual forefathers, “the Holy Patriarchs of old.”  It was also Bradford’s way of returning to the origins of Christianity, thus of purifying his faith by seeking a more direct, unmediated experience of divinity. Rather than reading Scriptures that were translated from the Greek and latin into English, Bradford wanted to read the originals in that “holy tongue” used to name things “at the Creation.”

As I have stated in many other articles, traditions are evil ONLY when they defy or elevate themselves above Scripture. When they don’t, traditions can enrich our lives. So now that you’ve glimpsed into the hearts and minds of those men and women who celebrated that very first American Thanksgiving, I hope you will go ahead and buy that turkey. Invite your family and friends. It is never the wrong time to thank the Most High. Then, while you’re all gathered at the table, why not take a page out of the history of that very first American Thanksgiving? Read aloud from Psalms 106 and 107! Let us return this all too often secularized American holiday (focused on football, parades, and gluttony) back to its original Puritan-form, to a time set aside to gather together with family and friends, and in gratitude let us reflect on God’s magnificent bounty.

Yup...Like Easter and Christmas there are those who think Thanksgiving is a pagan holiday.   

[pogi]

When I was a kid my mother, brother, sister, step-father would all go over my oldest sister house and celebrate Thanksgiving with her and her 4 kids. Later in life after I got married my mother would come over our house to celebrate Thanksgiving with me and my wife. Actually we would celebrate Thanksgiving the day after because my wife would always work the holidays because we needed the extra money. After my mom died it would just be me and my wife - brothers and sisters just lived to far away. 

For me Thanksgiving is a day to thank our Lord and Savior for everything he has giving us. 

Peace and Love 

Tony 

[Sinbad]

On 8 November 2017 at 11:49 PM, Denadii said:

Are you ready for this?  Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the UK for far longer than the US or Canada existed....They have always celebrated a 'feast' called Home and Harvest..

Harvest Home, also called Ingathering, is a traditional English harvest festival, celebrated from antiquity. It has survived to modern times in isolated regions. Participants celebrate the last day of harvest in late September by singing, shouting, and decorating the village with boughs. The cailleac, or last sheaf of corn (grain), which represents the spirit of the field, is made into a harvest doll and drenched with water as a rain charm. This sheaf is saved until spring planting. The ancient festival also included the symbolic murder of the grain spirit, as well as rites for expelling the devil. A similar festival was traditionally held in parts of Ireland, Scotland, and northern Europe.

I find it rather interesting that the Encyclopedia Britannica says it was also called the “Ingathering” (a term used for the Feast of Sukkot), and that it has been celebrated from antiquity. The English self-identify as being “British.” Why? I think it’s because in Hebrew “Brit” means covenant and “ish” means man. Keeping this in mind, let me ask you a question. What if this “ingathering” celebrated from antiquity by these covenant men began as the Feast of Sukkot? What if it then devolved over many generations into its pagan form, as it did under King Jeroboam? And what if the Pilgrims, who we already know from primary sources–letters, diaries, and legal documents–renounced Christmas and Easter, which they recognized as being pagan, chose this particular time of the year to gather together to give thanks to the Most High because they wanted to return to a biblically mandated celebration?

History documents that during the 4th and 5th centuries Celtic assemblies in Britain, under the teaching of great men of God like St. Patrick, the missionary to Ireland, and Columba, kept the 7th day Sabbath and the “Festivals of the Eternal” found in Leviticus 23, and ate biblically clean. (The Celtic Church in Britain by Leslie Hardinge/ Truth Triumphant by B.G. Wilkinson)

But before I continue with my hypothesis allow me to share some history that should be most interesting to those who’ve returned to the Hebraic roots of their faith, facts about a once popular (and now defamed by the revisionist-LEFT) historical figure named Christopher Columbus. The following passage was excerpted from “The Light And The Glory” by Peter Marshall and David Manuel.

“…Their final solution to the ‘Jewish problem’ was disseminated by a royal decree issued in the spring of 1492: All Jews were given three months to get out of the country. So Columbus had to settle for a heavier, slower flagship than he would have desired….As they reached the place where the Tinto joined the Saltés, just before emptying into the ocean, a last shipload of Jews was also waiting for the tide. They too were leaving now. . . It is doubtful they thought of one another beyond a routine log entry. And even if they had, none of that forlorn shipload of Jewish exiles could have dreamed that the three other ships on the river were leading the way to a land which would one day provide the first welcome haven to their people.” 

Peter Marshall and David Manuel included this following translated excerpt below from an obscure volume of Columbus’s Book of Prophecies that is available only in Spanish.

“It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel his hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration is from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures…I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence. For the execution of the journey to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had promised…”

More recently, a number of Spanish scholars–Jose Erugo, Celso Garcia de la Riega, Otero Sanchez and Nicholas Dias Perez–have determined that Columbus was himself a Jew. His survival depended upon suppression of that fact during Spain’s Inquisition. But Jewish bloodline or not, he was indeed a believer in Yeshua, as his journal entries prove.

In their book, The Light and the Glory, the authors related the inspiring history of Columbus, which set the tone for the rest of their book, written in the late 1980s. It documents the special call of God on America and those founding it–men and women who like the children of Israel made a covenant with God, only to have later generations break it, time and time again. (I also recommend an article titled, “Historical Record Shows Christopher Columbus Actually Was A Great Man/ Leftist lies vs. reality” by Michael J. Knowles of the Daily Wire.)

The authors of “the Light and the Glory” raise the question: What if God deals with whole nations the way he deals with individuals? After all, Israel was chosen to be a light to all the other nations. And Deuteronomy 7:6-9 tells us that had they obeyed, they would have been mightily blessed. The problem was they never stayed faithful; they never kept their covenant.

Now back to the Pilgrims. In the Plymouth Colony, from 1620s to 1850s Christmas and Easter, associated as they were with paganism and idolatry, were illegal. For this reason, I am quite sure that the Pilgrims did not celebrate that first Thanksgiving as Harvest Home. Furthermore, prior to their departure for the New World, those we call the Pilgrims had left England for Holland in search of religious freedom. They remained in Holland a decade, living among Sephardic Jews, who had been expelled from Spain in 1492. For the ten years the Pilgrims spent there, they witnessed the celebration of that set apart time called Sukkoth.  Pilgrim historian Caleb Johnson suggest that “the Pilgrims indeed modeled a festive day on the biblical holiday Sukkoth.”

Like Sukkot, that first Thanksgiving in 1621 was eaten outdoors. And as our Jewish brothers traditionally welcome friends to join them in their Sukkah to share a meal, these Pilgrims invited the Wampanoag tribe to their first Thanksgiving table. History only records three days of feasting. But might it have lasted seven days plus one? I don’t know. History doesn’t say. But at that very first Thanksgiving they recited Psalms 106 and 107, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His kindness endures forever,” just as they do in the Jewish liturgy for Sukkot.

William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth Colony studied the Hebrew Scriptures, and history recounts that the Pilgrims saw themselves as those “other vinedressers” to whom the vineyard was rented out, according to Matthew 21. And they saw the New World (right or wrong) as a type of Promised Land.  

Matthew 21:38-41. But seeing the son, the vinedressers said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and possess his inheritance. And taking him, they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers? They said to Him, Bad men! He will miserably destroy them, and he will rent out the vineyard to other vinedressers who will give to him the fruits in their seasons. 

I will leave you with one final item I found on a website for an extension course in literature from the University of Kentucky. I hope that as a part of this Hebrew Roots restoration, God’s last great move to restore all things before Yeshua returns (Acts 3:21), you will find this particular bit of history most gratifying. (I have changed the spelling on certain words in this Bradford quote to modern English to make it easier to read.)

“In 1650, three years after he had ceased to chronicle the happenings at Plymouth for posterity, and at the age of sixty years, William Bradford took up the study of Hebrew. In a copy book he listed over a thousand words and a number of common Hebrew phrases, with their English translations. Scholars have remarked that many of the words and phrases concern the duties of fathers to their sons. On one page he paused to explain why, at an advanced age, he had embarked on this new path of learning:

“Though I am grown aged, yet I have a longing desire to see, with my own eyes, something of that most ancient language, and holy tongue, in which the law and Oracles of God were written; and in which God and angels spoke to the Holy Patriarchs of old time; and what names were given to things at the Creation.” 

“For William Bradford, learning Hebrew was an act of filial respect. It was an act of devotion through which a son of the Church sought to honor his spiritual forefathers, “the Holy Patriarchs of old.”  It was also Bradford’s way of returning to the origins of Christianity, thus of purifying his faith by seeking a more direct, unmediated experience of divinity. Rather than reading Scriptures that were translated from the Greek and latin into English, Bradford wanted to read the originals in that “holy tongue” used to name things “at the Creation.”

As I have stated in many other articles, traditions are evil ONLY when they defy or elevate themselves above Scripture. When they don’t, traditions can enrich our lives. So now that you’ve glimpsed into the hearts and minds of those men and women who celebrated that very first American Thanksgiving, I hope you will go ahead and buy that turkey. Invite your family and friends. It is never the wrong time to thank the Most High. Then, while you’re all gathered at the table, why not take a page out of the history of that very first American Thanksgiving? Read aloud from Psalms 106 and 107! Let us return this all too often secularized American holiday (focused on football, parades, and gluttony) back to its original Puritan-form, to a time set aside to gather together with family and friends, and in gratitude let us reflect on God’s magnificent bounty.

Yup...Like Easter and Christmas there are those who think Thanksgiving is a pagan holiday.   

Hi Denadii

thank you for taking the time to write all that out it made very interesting reading was really impressed and have learnt something about the celts and the Scots really thank so much 

God bless

sinbad 

[Sower]

On 11/7/2017 at 2:23 PM, Annette said:

With Thanksgiving being just around the corner. And with us having only lived here for a few years, celebrating Thanksgiving is relatively new to us.

I was wondering what it is, that makes Thanksgiving a special time for you and your family.

History books today do not contain so much anymore of the good American past affiliated with God. I do remember from my school American History classes the Pilgrims way back celebrated the blessings God gave, especially at harvest time. I always thought that was the beginning of the tradition. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," back when it was "politically correct". At our house, it is much anticipated, hassle free, as it allows a great time for family gathering in mild weather. Kids and grand kids start showing up about noon, my wife and son or daughters are usually trying out a new recipe for some culinary delight, I'm making sure there's plenty of Texas poppers (jalapeno peppers stuffed with spicy cheese), and everybody brings their favorite food added to the mix. My wife and I (grandma and grandpa), supply the bird, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet taters, sliced cranberry, stuffing, drinks, biscuits and homemade bread, and the kitchen. Before the main meal,we get to try out somebody's favorite green beans in cheese sauce or a nine layer bean dip, spicy guacamole dip, and at least one hot sauce or pico de gallo dip. By the time the dozen grand kids wipe out the chip and dip, it's time to eat.
In our family, it has always been a tradition to form a large circle around the kitchen for prayer. As the oldest, I will pray, or often will ask another adult, or if led, will ask any one of the grand kids. After prayer, we go around the circle and each one tells what they are especially thankful for. Sometimes this is done at the table, but with getting so many meals ready for each one, it works better before we eat. My wife tried making little turkey cards for each to write down the years blessings received, but we end up simply telling everybody, one at a time instead. Adults eat inside at the big table, grand kids on the porch, that's easily hosed down later.  Then come the pies, pumpkin, pecan, for sure, and maybe lemon  meringue, and home made ice cream (hopefully not a new experiment in flavor).  After the dishes and pots are cleaned up, the ladies sit and drink coffee and talk, the guys watch the Dallas Cowboys lose another one, and slowly start falling asleep on the couches. Grand kids outside having a great time playing and tearing up my shop, looking for some way to get in trouble. When it gets dark, we might shoot off some left over fireworks.
It's always amazing to me why God has blessed this country so much, for which I give thanks for because it's my country. I'm always overwhelmed that He blessed me with such a neat family, our home He provided to allow us to have so many friends visit, a family that gets along. And the greatest blessing of all blessings for my wife and myself,  a family of believers in the greatest of all, Jesus.   It don't get no better.........

Psa_92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

1Ch_16:8  Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

1Ch_16:34  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa_30:4  Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Psa_30:12  To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

1Th_5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by Gary Lee

[Wayne222]

Thanksgiving is a great holiday in the usa. As a boy growing up my grand parents always had a thanksgiving dinner. My my parents of seven and my uncle and Anunt family of six plus my grand parents would have a big dinner. Home made every thing including the pies. The fun was really good with my cousins. Now the past few years i have thanksgivingwith just me and my daughter. I always buy my dinners from a supermarkets ready made. But it's so good. As good as homemade.I feel the presence of christ there always. It's nice always. But the memory of thanksgiving is always there when we have it now. My daughter is very please with it too. But many people dont have anyone and the holiday compounds there aloneness. Jesus always looks for the lost. That the only bad thing about holidays.  People feel the emptiness at this time more so. I glad christ is there for them if they seek.

 

[Annette]

On 11/8/2017 at 5:49 PM, Denadii said:

hope you will go ahead and buy that turkey. Invite your family and friends. It is never the wrong time to thank the Most High. Then, while you’re all gathered at the table, why not take a page out of the history of that very first American Thanksgiving? Read aloud from Psalms 106 and 107! Let us return this all too often secularized American holiday (focused on football, parades, and gluttony) back to its original Puritan-form, to a time set aside to gather together with family and friends, and in gratitude let us reflect on God’s magnificent

Hi Denadii,

Thank you so much for all the effort you out into sharing such a wealth of knowledge. I look forward to coming back to what you have shared. As you certainly gave a lot of thought to your answer.

I love your conclusion, this is a great time to look back on and reflect what God has done in each of our lives.

Blessings

[Annette]

On 11/8/2017 at 6:02 PM, pogi said:

When I was a kid my mother, brother, sister, step-father would all go over my oldest sister house and celebrate Thanksgiving with her and her 4 kids. Later in life after I got married my mother would come over our house to celebrate Thanksgiving with me and my wife. Actually we would celebrate Thanksgiving the day after because my wife would always work the holidays because we needed the extra money. After my mom died it would just be me and my wife - brothers and sisters just lived to far away. 

For me Thanksgiving is a day to thank our Lord and Savior for everything he has giving us. 

Peace and Love 

Tony 

Hi Tony,

Thank you so much for sharing. It was interesting to read about the change in seasons of your life and how Thanksgiving was celebrated.

I love how you made adjustments but kept true to the idea of gratitude and giving thanks.

After all, we all have so much to be grateful for.

Blessings

[Annette]

15 hours ago, Gary Lee said:

History books today do not contain so much anymore of the good American past affiliated with God. I do remember from my school American History classes the Pilgrims way back celebrated the blessings God gave, especially at harvest time. I always thought that was the beginning of the tradition. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," back when it was "politically correct". At our house, it is much anticipated, hassle free, as it allows a great time for family gathering in mild weather. Kids and grand kids start showing up about noon, my wife and son or daughters are usually trying out a new recipe for some culinary delight, I'm making sure there's plenty of Texas poppers (jalapeno peppers stuffed with spicy cheese), and everybody brings their favorite food added to the mix. My wife and I (grandma and grandpa), supply the bird, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet taters, sliced cranberry, stuffing, drinks, biscuits and homemade bread, and the kitchen. Before the main meal,we get to try out somebody's favorite green beans in cheese sauce or a nine layer bean dip, spicy guacamole dip, and at least one hot sauce or pico de gallo dip. By the time the dozen grand kids wipe out the chip and dip, it's time to eat.
In our family, it has always been a tradition to form a large circle around the kitchen for prayer. As the oldest, I will pray, or often will ask another adult, or if led, will ask any one of the grand kids. After prayer, we go around the circle and each one tells what they are especially thankful for. Sometimes this is done at the table, but with getting so many meals ready for each one, it works better before we eat. My wife tried making little turkey cards for each to write down the years blessings received, but we end up simply telling everybody, one at a time instead. Adults eat inside at the big table, grand kids on the porch, that's easily hosed down later.  Then come the pies, pumpkin, pecan, for sure, and maybe lemon  meringue, and home made ice cream (hopefully not a new experiment in flavor).  After the dishes and pots are cleaned up, the ladies sit and drink coffee and talk, the guys watch the Dallas Cowboys lose another one, and slowly start falling asleep on the couches. Grand kids outside having a great time playing and tearing up my shop, looking for some way to get in trouble. When it gets dark, we might shoot off some left over fireworks.
It's always amazing to me why God has blessed this country so much, for which I give thanks for because it's my country. I'm always overwhelmed that He blessed me with such a neat family, our home He provided to allow us to have so many friends visit, a family that gets along. And the greatest blessing of all blessings for my wife and myself,  a family of believers in the greatest of all, Jesus.   It don't get no better.........

Psa_92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

1Ch_16:8  Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

1Ch_16:34  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa_30:4  Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Psa_30:12  To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

1Th_5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Gary Lee for taking the time to share, and for the reminder of what a blessing family really is. It is great to read about families getting together and making time for one another. 

It sounds like a precious time to spend time together, catch up and relax having already spent time reflecting on our blessings.

I love the verses you shared.

Hope this will be a great Thanksgiving again.

Blessings

[Annette]

15 hours ago, Wayne222 said:

Thanksgiving is a great holiday in the usa. As a boy growing up my grand parents always had a thanksgiving dinner. My my parents of seven and my uncle and Anunt family of six plus my grand parents would have a big dinner. Home made every thing including the pies. The fun was really good with my cousins. Now the past few years i have thanksgivingwith just me and my daughter. I always buy my dinners from a supermarkets ready made. But it's so good. As good as homemade.I feel the presence of christ there always. It's nice always. But the memory of thanksgiving is always there when we have it now. My daughter is very please with it too. But many people dont have anyone and the holiday compounds there aloneness. Jesus always looks for the lost. That the only bad thing about holidays.  People feel the emptiness at this time more so. I glad christ is there for them if they seek.

 

Hi Wayne,

It has been good to read through and see what people have shared.

I think it's great that despite having large or small crowds, that this is a time of reflection.

This year we are joining family friends for the holiday. I am told there will be lots of people and when I think of crowds I begin to feel overwhelmed, especially being with a lot of new people.

But you are right, we would otherwise be spending this time on our own. And we have so much to be grateful for.

I hope this will be a great Thanksgiving for you and your daughter.