Turkey, Dressing, and Cranberry Sauce

I returned to the US this week in time to celebrate the American holiday known as Thanksgiving.   It’s my favorite holiday of the year as family and friends gather around a table to share blessings with each other.  There is much more than turkey with all the trimmings shared at Thanksgiving.

We are reminded to be thankful for our family that are near to us and to be thankful for the memories of those who have left us to join our Father in heaven.  We are reminded to be thankful for dear friends who might as well be family because of the closeness of our hearts knit together in an unbreakable bond of love and care.

We reflect at this time upon the blessings of the year gone by and all that God has done for us yet again.  He has given His strength when we have been weak.  He has given us courage when we have been scared.  He has given us comfort when we have been hurting.  He has given us assurance of His presence when we have felt alone.  He has given us His understanding when we have been misunderstood.  He has lifted us up to a higher place when circumstances have sent us reeling to depths of despair.  He has put His wisdom in our minds when we have felt foolish and small.  He has spoken His words of love when we have felt unloved and forsaken by others.  He has been the light when the world has been dark.  He has been our everything when we have felt like nothing.

Jesus is our rock in every situation of life, year after year, day after day, moment by moment.  With thoughts of God’s love for us in the forefront of our minds, it makes everyday a time of Thanksgiving and enables us to say with the Apostle Paul:

“We can rejoice when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us – they help us learn to endure.  And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.  And this expectation will not disappoint us.  For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”  Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)