Thanksgiving thoughts

For Thanksgiving, Jen, the kids, and I have made the journey to her parents house in eastern Connecticut. This time of year in Connecticut, it is pretty cold! As I sit here in the warm living room of her parents comfy, wooden home, I smell the sweet aromas of all kinds of different foods that are being prepared in the kitchen. I watch kids play games and laugh at the other end of the room. Ty and Kaelin have just come in to warm their hands after taking a ride around the property on "Money" the old, gentle, white horse. Football starts in a few hours. Life is good! I am blessed with a great wife, great kids, and a wonderful life. My belly will be full all day and my biggest challenge will be fighting off sleep long enough to watch the game. So much to be thankful to God for.

As I started thinking about this, I started considering the origins of this holiday. Pilgrims gathered with native Americans to have a feast in which they would intentionally stop and give thanks to their Savior, Jesus Christ, for keeping them alive. A group of Christians stopped and demonstrated their thankfulness to Christ in the midst of their non-believing neighbors...and compared to us, they had so little. They faced perils of many kind including the weather, the terrain, sickness, starvation.

Today, as we have been blessed by the fruit of the pilgrims sacrifice and the Christian heritage that they instilled in founding this nation, I cannot help but notice how far from our humble beginnings we have drifted. Our affluence and comfort have greatly increased, but has our praise and thanksgiving also greatly increased? I know this is something that each of us will choose for ourselves this season, and I pray that I lead my family in choosing to really "Give Thanks" on this day for all that we have! We are a blessed people! Thank you Lord for all you have given to us!

"Blessed be Your Name, in the land that is plentiful
When the streams of abundance flow, blessed be Your Name!

And blessed be Your Name, on the road marked with suffering,
Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your Name!"

Wherever you find yourself today, take some time to stop and give thanks!