I love the Fall weather with the changing color of the leaves and milder temperatures.
Even when temperatures dip cold enough to cause us to turn up the heat and put on our warm
sweaters, it reminds me of the seasonal holidays coming our way.
All my life these holidays were a time of family celebrations and traditions. As a child I
remember certain family members seemed to gather to gather at Thanksgiving and a different
group would seem to gather during Christmas. I remember seeing families on television sit down
to Thanksgiving dinner—the mother would proudly carry the roasted turkey to the table and
place in front of the father for him to carve. I always wondered why she did that. My mother
would have the turkey already sliced on the platter when it was placed on the table. In fact, I
do not know if my dad could have carved the turkey without it sliding across the table or landing
on the floor. Our dogs would have loved it.
Anyway, I am sure we all have fond memories from our past Thanksgivings, and maybe
some not so fond. I do know that we were always taught to be thankful for what we had and not
to take for granted that we would have the things that we currently had. We were told as
young children that God provided everything that we had and that He would always take care of
us. We may not have a lot, but we had everything that we needed. It was through many years
of growing and developing a relationship with Jesus Christ that helped me realize how true that
was.
The other night I was talking with Wesley, my five-year-old grandson. I asked him if he
was ready for Thanksgiving. He said, “No, I hate Thanksgiving.” I asked him why. He said, “It’s
boring.” At five he is already finding things to be boring. So, I explained to him what
Thanksgiving was about then asked Wesley if he was thankful for anything. He started saying
he was thankful for his family, his home, friends and he was especially the food he was going to
eat with family. Then he said, “I am thankful God made turkeys.”
It is fun to think of all these things, yet we need to focus too on what the Scripture
instructs us to fix our eyes on during this time of Thanksgiving—God. God is the true source of
every good thing in our lives. He is the source of all we have.
We can express our thanks for our families and friends, for employment, our great
experiences, our homes, food, cars, toys, cell phones, etc. Every one of those—God is the
source and provider—and we need to thank Him for it.
God has graciously given us all kinds of “good things” in our lives. Our natural response
should be to thank Him.2020 has been a hard year for all of us, individually and as a congregation.
All wish we were able to meet and worship together in our sanctuary every Sunday to express
our gratitude to God together.
If we listened to each, and every congregational member express how grateful we are for
God’s presence in our lives, we would be in a service together all day or longer. We are each so
blessed for what God is doing in our lives. We need to be thankful for those blessings,
There are so many scriptures throughout the Bible sharing how God is our creator,
Provider and Sustainer and how we are to be a thankful people. As we prepare for this
Thanksgiving season, I urge you to spend some time reflecting on the ways God has been a
blessing and provider in your life, and how you can lift up your thanks to Him for all He has done
in your life during this pandemic season. Ask God how He can use to be a loving servant to
others as you move forward this year.
Psalm 95:2-3; 1John 1:48; Psalm 106:1; Psalm 28:7; Psalm 107:15; Daniel 2:23; Philippians 4:6
Ephesians 5:19-20; Isaiah 12:1; Colossians 3:16; Psalm 119:62; 1 Thessilonians1:2;
Philemon 1:4; Psalm 136:3-9; Hebrews 12:28-29; Revelations 11:17; 1 Corinthians 15:57;
2Corinthians 2:14
God Bless,
Wendy Gunn
Pastor of Record