What is Thanksgiving ?
We have all made attmepts to make Thanksgiving more exciting. Buying Thanksgiving decorations and then there is always the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. Sometimes it seems like the only purpose of Thanksgiving is to eat turkey, watch football, and let it be the kick off to the Christmas shopping season. Sometimes people even call Thanksgiving “Turkey Day.”
Thanksgiving, to me is so much more than this. Thanksgiving is all about God and thanking him for the gifts of life, love, joy, and more. Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful and having an attitude of gratitude. Yes, we get to see family and friends and we get to eat a great meal. But our central purpose should be to give thanks to God.
I want to be a model of thankfulness to my children. This means being thankful no matter what our situation in life. Thankfulness means that we are aware of both our blessings and disappointments but that we focus on the blessings. On the path of life, it maybe hard to be thankful, like when the children are squabbling and tattling on each other, or a job that is over working you or underpaying you, or a dear friend that you have lost touch with. At times it may be hard to be thankful. I want my husband and children to know that I am thankful for them, for our home, and for the other good things that we are blessed with in our life. I am thankful for all of my family and good friends. I am also thankful for our wonderful country we live in and that we have freedom. Also, that we have wonderful teachers educating our kids, which happen to be the most underpaid employees. I encourage our kids to give thanks to God at Thanksgiving and to set aside time each day to pray and give thanks to Him for all the things He does for us.
This Thanksgiving, our family spent the day at Grammie Ginger and Papa Bills'. They invited us to partake in their familys' Thanksgiving. The kids loved going there, especially knowing that they would be able to go swimming in their pool with their cousins Cole and Chloe. We were all greatful for their hospitality. I greatly appreciated Grammie Ginger's friend Inge setting time aside for me to teach me how to knit. The food was great and everyone participated in the "Tree of Thanks". Which intailed grabbing a leaf and expressing what you were thankful for on it. Thank you for a wonderful Thanksgiving.
