Remember when …

• Thanksgiving was a special day set aside for giving thanks that wasn’t surrounded by anything else (No Black Fridays or Cyber Mondays)?
• Thanksgiving decorations were displayed in the stores before Christmas decorations?
• Most Americans knew the history of Thanksgiving?
• Thanksgiving wasn’t a feast designed to kick off the Christmas decorating and shopping season?
• Families had literally nothing and were truly thankful for the little things … like a turkey on the table?
• Most grandpas and grandmas lived nearby? [Today, the American Automobile Association (AAA), using a survey of 1,350 American households, projects that 38.4 million Americans will be traveling over this holiday weekend, up from 37.8 million in 2012.]

Did you know …

• The first Thanksgiving celebration was a three-day event? Three days filled with feasting, games, worship, prayers and praises to God!

On that first Thanksgiving celebration in 1621 there were no newspapers with 5 pounds of ads and coupons to peruse for the next-day shopping frenzy. Just Americans thanking God for the provision He had supplied and His care for them in a “new world” where life was fragile and the next meal was not an easy drive-through burger lane.

Today, Thanksgiving has become big business, a marketer’s dream. Last year, over what is now called the “Black Friday Weekend,” 226 million people shopped at retail outlets or online, spending $52.4 billion, with the average customer spending just under $400, according to the National Retail Federation.

In all of the merchandising mania, have we forgotten what true thankfulness is?

What’s really important?

In addition to our relationship with Christ (who is the Way, the Truth and the Life), we all know that people are the most important thing: Family. Friends. Strangers.

That’s why we labor for days to clean and decorate our homes; it’s why we cook our favorite hearty dishes and scrumptious delicacies to serve to our guests, or to bring to our hosts.

That Thanksgiving meal, surrounded by an atmosphere of thankful hearts, is the Norman Rockwell picture of our heart’s desire.

May we, like the early colonists, give thanks today for God’s many blessings, no matter what our situation or circumstances, because everything we are and have is a gift from God that we don’t deserve. We rejoice exceedingly for His past and present blessings and pray for those who need encouragement. Thanksgiving Day brings a mixture of praises and prayer needs:

• A beloved grandma we know was given the green light to leave the hospital and fly across the country to be with her family today….
• Another dear family receives their beloved son home from the hospital today — just for one day — following a devastating motorcycle accident and hospitalization….
• Still another close friend is spending today in the hospital with her very ill mother.
• Some of our guests today are from a family broken by divorce, who will never celebrate Thanksgiving again as a complete family.
• Others have worries on their minds. A biopsy ahead … excruciating pain (will they be able to sit with everyone at the dinner table today?) … a job loss … financial concerns ….

The Pilgrims had great sorrows and distresses on that first Thanksgiving Day as well. Half of them had died that first winter because of the harsh conditions and no medical facilities. The weather (combined with critters and insects) would determine their food supply every year. Food preservation was a huge problem. Marauders threatened their physical safety.

Despite all of this, they counted their blessings and were THANKFUL to God. And they spent three days thanking Him!

Those precious good times and those heartbreaking difficult times are a reminder for us to enjoy and treasure  moment we have together … because life is precious. And to be thankful and grateful for God’s ultimate gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

If you are a grandparent, smother those grandchildren with your love today, whether with personal hugs or with loving words by telephone or Skype.

If you are a parent, thank and encourage your parents for all that they mean to you and your children.

If you are a grandchild, tell your grandparents what they mean to you and how much you love them. Your words will be forever ingrained on their hearts.

Thanksgiving Day — the celebration has changed, but the act of giving thanks to God and expressing love transcends all cultural shifts and geographical boundaries.

So, in this modern-day age, whether you and your family hit the streets on black Friday, engage in recreation together, or sequester yourselves in front of the fireplace with a good book …. remember to be thankful for all of God’s blessings. All day. Every day.

… Because thankfulness is a lifestyle you live, and a legacy you leave. Thanksgiving Day is just a day to remind us of that.

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.” — Psalm 107:8-9