Category Archives: Thanksgiving

When Giving Thanks Isn’t Easy

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Holidays can be difficult and wonderful all at the same time. They are wonderful because we are with friends and family and they are difficult because some of those same people are no longer at our holiday table.

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 ESV.

There are other life pressures that make being thankful just plain hard. Nothing seems to be going right, finances are tight, the job is unsteady at best, the world is in chaos and relationships are shaky.

Be thankful? For what?

  • When I feel like it?
  • When everything is going well?
  • When I am happy, upbeat and positive?
  • When my kids like me, my boss praises me and my wife still smiles when I enter the room?

Yes, be thankful when everything is going well.

And when it is not.

The Bible doesn’t tell us to thank God only when things are going perfect, it actually says, “In everything, give thanks.” In everything!

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus..” Philippians 4:6-7 NLT

This scripture seems to sum it all up so well.

Worry about nothing, pray about everything. Thank Him for what He has done.

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If we believe the Word then look at that scripture again: Don’t worry, pray about everything, tell Him what you need and THANK HIM for what He has done.

And if you do that? Then you will experience God’s peace! The Bible says that peace is greater than anything we can understand! Will your circumstance change? Maybe not, but His peace will guard your heart and your mind as you live in Christ Jesus.

Wow.

We hear so much in this present world, when someone has a beautiful family, a job promotion, a new house, a new baby, and on and on and on: “You are so blessed.” And it is true, we never take lightly the good things in this life, we give God the praise in all things!

But does that mean that the one who is not experiencing good things, prosperity or over-abundance is NOT blessed of God?

I dare say, “No.”

when giving thanks isn't easy

These things, if not of our own doing, are just part of living in this sinful world. Bad things happen to good people but in all things, in everything, God is faithful and sovereign. He never changes and He is always fair and just.

So, on this National Day of Thanks, remember you might be sitting beside someone who is struggling, who has forgotten that they still have much to be thankful for, someone who is finding it isn’t easy to Give Thanks…this year.

Maybe they have lost a loved one and the chair beside them is empty. Possibly they are separated from their spouse or about to lose their job. Perhaps they are just fearful of world events.

Whatever the reason that Giving Thanks Isn’t Easy would you try to be an encouragement to them? Speak words of love and affirmation, remember that you have been in their shoes at some point and that God hasn’t forgotten them.

And if you, the reader, right now, are the one going through dark trials, can I tell you Jesus Loves You? He knows right where you are and loves you more than the sparrows that He takes care of every day. He will never, never leave you and never forsake you. There is comfort in His presence, in giving your needs and cares to Him and letting Him be your Burden Bearer.

He’s already paid the price for YOU and one day soon He will come back for YOU and take you to be with Him.

So even though Giving Thanks Isn’t Easy, there is power in praise and strength will come back to you. Remember what God has done in the past and thank Him. Then don’t forget to praise Him for what He is GOING TO DO!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day with your family and friends. Jesus will be rhere too.

Kingdom2

 

The Snood and Wattle Make the Gobble!

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The Snood and Wattle Make the Gobble!

“Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with others they only see once a year, & then discover once a year is way too often.” ~Johnny Carson

Kicking off Thanksgiving Day with some fun facts and we might have a few you haven’t heard before.

Here we go with 25 Totally Random & Fun Facts for Thanksgiving!


  1. The first Thanksgiving was held in the fall of 1621. There were approximately 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians. Aside from the huge difference in what was served then, and now, their feast lasted three days!
  2. Thanksgiving can take place as early as November 22 and as late as November 28. (Hint: it’s always the 4th Thursday!)
  3. 91% of Americans eat TURKEY for Thanksgiving.
  4. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the 2nd oldest Thanksgiving parade. (Gimbels Department Store was first!)
  5. Baby turkeys are called poults and male turkeys are called gobblers.
  6. Sarah Josepha Hale was an American magazine editor and also an author. She is credited for campaigning to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. But did you know she also wrote Mary Had a Little Lamb?
  7. The snood (male turkeys only, please) is the red growth coming from the forehead. The part underneath the throat is the wattle.
  8. The Snoopy balloon has appeared in the Macy’s Parade more often than any other character.Snoopy-Balloon-Picture-at-Macys-Thanksgiving-Day-Parade-NYC-Steve-Weintraub
  9. The name turkey goes way back to when the Europeans discovered how much they loved the guinea fowl that was imported to their continent by, you guessed it, Turkish merchants! Then, when the Spaniards came to America, they found a bird that tasted like the guinea fowl and they called it turkey also.
  10. Thanksgiving was traditionally celebrated on the last Thursday of November, set by Abraham Lincoln. But in 1939, President Roosevelt pushed it up a week early. Why, you ask? To increase the time for Christmas shopping during the Great Depression!
  11. Only male turkeys, called toms, gobble. Females, or hens, cackle. (No comments from the male population, thank you very much.)
  12. TV-DinnerSwanson TV Dinners were born out of the over-abundance of leftover frozen Thanksgiving turkeys. Who knew?
  13. 3,000 is the number of calories consumed by the average person during a Thanksgiving dinner. Don’t forget that most families eat at least twice that day and snack on rich desserts and appetizers in between which can bump it up as high as 4,000-6,000 calories. That would require eight hours of exercise to burn it off. Yikes!
  14. Let’s add to #13 and insert that it has been estimated that the original Thanksgiving gatherers only consumed about 550 calories at their feast…probably no pies or stuffing.
  15. Another DID YOU KNOW: Californians consume more turkeys than any other state.
  16. More than 44 million people watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV every year. Three million actually attend in person. It’s a miracle….on 34th Street (ba-dum-bump…The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade starts at 77th St and Central Park West and heads down to 34th Street in Herald Square.)
  17. A 25 pound turkey contains about 70% white meat and 30% dark. (What’s your favorite?)
  18. Wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour when they are scared!
  19. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first meal in space, after walking on the moon, was roasted turkey in neat, little aluminum foil packets.
  20. large_24099One dish I personally can pass on is the Green Bean Casserole. Campbell’s Soup created it for an annual cookbook over 50 years ago and they now sell $20 million+ worth of cream of mushroom soup for Thanksgiving. (Will it be on your table?)
  21. The first Pilgrims did not have forks. They used spoons, knives and, ahem, their fingers. Some things never change.
  22. It is believed that only FIVE women were present at the first Thanksgiving. Many of the women settlers didn’t survive the extremely difficult first year on new soil.
  23. Every year, since 1975, there is another celebration on Thanksgiving Day on the island of Alcatraz. It is called UN-Thanksgiving Day, commemorating the survival of Native Americans after the Europeans settled in America.
  24. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, cranberries were originally used by Native Americans to treat arrow wounds and also to dye their clothes! (Canned or fresh on your table?) 
  25. And finally, I have saved the best for last! Turkeys….wait for it….have heart attacks! The United States Air Force conducted test runs that were breaking the sound barrier. Nearby was a flock of turkeys that promptly dropped dead. Death by heart attack.

Share with us some of the family traditions you will be partaking in or feel free to comment on any or all of the trivia info! We would love for you to join the conversation. Have a blessed day with your family and friends. 

Kingdom2

 

When Thanksgiving is Hard but God is Good

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When Thanksgiving is Hard, but God is Good. For some, this Thursday, November 23, is going to be difficult. Wondering how they are going to make it through the day with a smile on their face. Others will be fighting back tears because of empty chairs at the table. Their heart hurts, and the reasons vary but the heartache is so real. If this is you? I am praying God will give you strength that only comes from Him and that spirit-filled peace that passes our understanding. Be encouraged by the two saints of God in the following post and be blessed knowing God sees you, loves you and is with you especially when it is hard.

Francis Jane Crosby was the author of over 9,000 hymns. Do you know she wrote so many that she began using pen names so that the hymnals would not be filled with her name alone?

Beautiful hymns such as:

Blessed Assurance
Safe in the Arms of Jesus
All the Way My Savior Leads Me
Rescue the Perishing
Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross

Born in New York, Fanny was ill almost from the beginning. One day, their family’s regular doctor was out of town and another man, who claimed to be a doctor, prescribed hot mustard compresses to her eyes. She got over the sickness but the treatment left her blind.

Blindness didn’t deter her from her love of life and her love for the Word of God; she memorized scripture every day; five chapters a week.

Fanny loved poetry and wrote her first verse at the age of eight:

Fanny’s attitude kind of reminds me of someone else we know; the Apostle Paul was one acquainted with grief. He had lived through many, many persecutions. Most of them were physical.

“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 ESV.

Wow. And we think WE are persecuted for the name of Jesus!

Drifting at sea
Stoned
Shipwrecked
Beaten
Dangerous rivers
Robbers
His own people
The Gentiles
The City
The Wilderness
False Brothers
Sleepless Nights
Hunger and Thirst
Cold and Exposure

And last, but definitely not least, he mentions the daily stress and anxiety brought on by the churches! 

Paul was under a tremendous amount of pressure. Remember, he was also blinded once on the road to Damascus. The Lord put him in that state for three whole days and his life was forever changed. Even though he regained his sight, he then saw things completely differently, through the Lord’s eyes instead of his own.

But even in the midst of the tremendous persecution, Paul found joy.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12 NLT.

Contentment.

Paul knew that no matter what his circumstances were he could be content. Why?

Verse 13 tells us the answer:

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Maybe you are feeling as if you do not have much for which to be thankful. Maybe life is not treating you kindly, or fairly, and everything seems to be upside down, like a little bug on the ground who can’t get turned back over on his feet.

God has not forsaken you. We understand that aren’t promised a life full of sunshine and blue skies, but we are promised He will go with us. Sometimes your season of need may last much, much longer than you had anticipated or had hoped for. But like Paul, and Fanny Crosby, we can always find something to be thankful for.

Is there breath in your lungs? Praise God! Are you in your right mind? Praise God!

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Most importantly, do you know Jesus? I mean truly know Him? If so, you have something wonderful to be thankful for. To be in relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords means we have an awesome responsibility to share this wonderful Truth with others and let our contentment be a great testimony of His keeping power.

Fanny didn’t let her inabilities or her circumstances dictate her feelings. She didn’t even pray for her sight to be restored. “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind?” said the poet. “Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”

Neither did the Apostle Paul. In everything, even in the difficulties, he found a reason to be thankful. Paul didn’t make it a practice to pray for things…he prayed that he might KNOW Him.

Grieving? Yes, it is good to grieve; it is necessary. But, in that grief, allow God to help you, strengthen you, speak peace into your heart and help you to find something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Just as the season moves on into another, this too will get easier and He will give you grace for each day as you draw closer to Him through your trial.

Enjoy this beautiful rendition of one of Fanny Crosby’s hymns by Chris Tomlin! Let it be your praise today…