Today is a day that can easily be overshadowed by excitement for Black Friday, or even Christmas!
It can also be taken over by itself. The name of this day is Thanksgiving. When you think about this word, do you think of turkey and mashed potatoes, or giving thanks for our blessings?
My mind (I confess) thinks of the last Thursday in November, and I think of....mashed potatoes. (and all those wonderful goodies)
There's nothing inherently wrong with celebrating this day, or eating mashed potatoes and turkey. However, it is so easy to lose sight of what Thanksgiving is truly about!
Thanksgiving is about giving thanks to God for the blessings he has poured on you in the years.It's a time of reflection for us to look back through the years and right now and just thank God for everything. A family tradition of ours is to go around the table and say what we're thankful for.
Five minutes spent on that is enough, right? Uh....no. But once we do that, we seem to think we're covered! Now we can move on to the food, football, and shopping. Uh...no. It's absolutely fine to eat turkey and hang out with family and play games. But we cannot take these things for granted!
So, I'm taking these traditional Thanksgiving activities and trying to turn them into praise.
1. I am so thankful for taste and smell. I wake up this morning and hop out of bed. Thanksgiving, it's finally here! I twirl around my room in my pajamas and fling my door open. Suddenly, my nose is greeted by a wonderful scent. The air smells of spicy sweet paprika, butter, and other spices. I smell the Thanksgiving turkey! Later, we feast on spice-rubbed turkey, mashed potatoes swimming in butter, Parker House rolls, creamy green bean casserole, tart cranberry sauce, crispy-crunchy stuffing, and sweet potatoes covered with sugar, spice, and everything nice. I am so thankful to God for creating all these wonderful flavors and enticing smells.
2. Laughter fills the room, and I start to giggle. It's just another random family conversation, but today, I am not taking it for granted. I soak in every moment of the radiant warmth that only comes from family. We laugh, we cry, we goof around. We talk about the randomest things at dinner, and then become the worst Wii handbell choir on Wii Music. Today, I thank Jesus for providing me with such a wonderful family. I love my leader of a father, my sweet angel of a mother, my comforting sister, my best friend brother, my gentle grandmother, my silly and joyful grandfather, my other hilarious and wonderful brother, and my flower-bringing 'uncle'. :)
3. I eagerly look through the newspaper ads, plotting out my list. I check my budget, I check it again. Black Friday midnight shopping is here! I am thankful for the money to be able to buy Christmas presents this year, and I am thankful for my willing mother who will take me and my sister midnight shopping. I am thankful for stores and Pepsi at 1 AM. :)
That's just a few things, but I am thankful for so many more things. My one thing that I am most thankful for is my theatre group. It has been a real blessing and I am so happy to have you all. I cannot wait to perform "The Happiest Millionaire" with all of you!
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? See you all soon and Happy Thanksgiving!
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