Christmas is Coming – but first, LET’S BE THANKFUL!

by Frances J. Harvey, Director of Operations

The season has changed, we are officially in Fall!  It’s one of my favorite times of the year.  The leaves are a blast of colors – reds, yellows, and greens. As they fall, the trees go barren, digging into the soil for a long winter, waiting to gather their energy for Spring time. 

Have you noticed, it’s dark outside at 5 o’clock! As I drive home at the end of the day, the sun is no longer lighting my way. Now headlights and street lights guide my way. The traffic is heavy. It is also colder now, and…

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THE CHRISTMAS TREE LOTS ARE GOING UP! By the first week of November, the fences are already in place, Christmas lights and decorations are up, and most likely the trees will arrive sometime this week! Yes, Christmas is coming – but first, LET’S BE THANKFUL!  November is for Thanksgiving, and we explode right through it as if were a chore. This makes me crazy and saddens me because the roots of this holiday were based on thanking God for the bounty of the harvest.  The Pilgrim’s wanted to show their thanks to God and honor the native Indians for their help during the first winter.

You see the Pilgrims, from England, had fled their home to escape religious persecution.  They arrived at the Plymouth Rock in the winter of 1620 and they had a very tragic winter losing close to half of the original group that sailed on the Mayflower. But in the following year, the fall harvest was very fruitful and they wanted to celebrate and show how thankful they were to the Natives that helped them to survive their first year.  In fact if it wasn’t for them, the Pilgrims would not have made it.  The feast was more a traditional English harvest festival and lasted for three days.  So Thanksgiving was originally a religious and cultural tradition, but according Wikipedia, it is primarily celebrated as a secular holiday.  In others words food, decorations and a day or two off work.

Come Thanksgiving day, most Americans all over the nation will be popping turkeys in the oven, mashing potatoes, baking pies, and getting ready for the family to visit – only to over eat, argue with family you don’t get along with and then fall asleep from the tryptophan in the turkey!  SERIOUSLY!!!  So how many of us will truly celebrate the REAL meaning of this holiday and have a spirit of thanksgiving?  This is one holiday that we should be practicing all day, every day, all year long.

Recently my pastor started a sermon series called “Power Tools” – this last Sunday was Part 2 – “Praise Power”   2 Chronicles 20:20-26, Acts 16:22-31. Praising God at All Times Unleashes His Power in Your Circumstance. Psalm 34:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:18.    Pastor Larry challenged us to praise God for WHO He is using the alphabet!  In other words, use each letter for a word to praise Him just because He’s God, not only because He does things for us!      Ex: God You are Awesome, You are Beautiful, You are Compassionate….. POWERFUL STUFF!

Give thanks to the Lord because His faithful love lasts forever!  II Chronicles 20:21b

As the week of Thanksgiving is here, I want to leave you with a few thoughts.  Purpose to keep these things present in your mind, heart, and spirit not only on November 22nd, but each and every day you wake up with breathe!

MIND – To Be Thankful – Conscious of Benefits Received 

Stay conscious of all that you have. Take a pen and paper and write down everything in your life that is good!  Even the small details.  Don’t miss anything.  Put it where you can see it every day and remember to keep these things present in your mind – stay conscious!

HEART – To Be Grateful – Appreciative of Benefits Received

Tell God on a regular basis how grateful you are for what He was done. Each morning you awake give Him your heart – start by acknowledging what a great, generous and awesome God He is.  Show Him through your actions and words. Just as the Pilgrims and Indians celebrated together and were grateful, so should our hearts reflect constant gratefulness!

SPIRIT – To Appreciate – Recognize the Quality, Significance, or Magnitude of Something – or to Highly Value

Our spirits should be in a constant state of appreciation of and for our Lord.  Each new day you wake up and have breathe is a reason to “recognize or highly value” that you are His child.  We are princess and princesses of the King!  Heirs to the Throne!  How could one NOT appreciate that?  Christ died for this very reason, so keep your spirit in appreciation!

Last, I share this quote from our therapist, Maisha Florance, M.A. –Registered MFT Intern…

Thanksgiving is a Holiday ~ Giving Thanks is an Action ~ Thankfulness is a Way of Life


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