Grafted in Gratefulness

For one and a half centuries the fourth Thursday of November, for Americans, is to be dedicated to a celebration of thanksgiving.  The first celebration ever, is believed to have occurred in 1621 with pilgrims and native Americans.  It was attended by 53 pilgrims and 90 native Americans.  It was a result of thankfulness after a great drought ended, and just another celebration of  thankfulness as believers responded regularly with thanksgiving, days of prayer, even in difficult times then.  It was ten years after pilgrimage to the new land.  It became an annual tradition when President Abraham Lincoln (in 1863) declared it a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on said Thursdays.

As we prepare our feasts, gather with family, or not for some, today's thankfulness should rise from a year's worth (or more) of remembrance.  For me, every day is filled with thanksgiving.  There are monumental occurrences which resonate deeply with grateful, rich, decadent thanks from this heart.  As our family (my mom, brother and I) sat together, huddled in a private waiting room, being told my father would probably not survive his pancreatic surgery, my brother and I cried out to our LORD, calling on our friends to join us, and He rescued dad from the claws of death.  God provided me with multiple jobs, pressing me forward in His calling.  He rescued Carrie from a debilitating spine issue, forcing her to take a half year off work a little over a year ago.  We are thankful she has had a pain free return, given new opportunities to use her skills and learn more about Cystic Fibrosis care, pulmonary, gastro intestinal care in children, working in all these clinics at Children's Hospital as adjunct, not lead.  Sufficiently relieved of overwhelming job stress, God continues to increase her nursing value as we continue forward in His ministry, His plan.  He blessed us with a grandson a little over a year ago.  If you have been following my writing, this package of energy, curiosity and love, has transformed our hearts with abundant thanksgiving and blessing.

I could, and should go on and on, plethora of reasons, miniscule to magnificent with thankfulness to God, for ALL He has forged, and allowed in our lives.  The first Thanksgiving lasted three days.  For some, today will be the only day of pause and thanksgiving, impeded upon by the plethora of distractions tomorrow holds.  For me, today rises out of plethora of remembrances, days, hours and events that rose in thankfulness offered to God, daily.  I stopped then, as I do today, only today will be filled with the basking, this heart, in remembrance of all that wafts to mind, considering this year riddled with thankful moments.

We will have all but one couple in our family around our table of Thanksgiving today.  Just the being together is celebration enough, an entire family reveling in joy and festivities shared.  Such great gift, this gathering.  We join centuries of celebrants who took pause to gather around a feast, feasting on the bounty delivered to all, from the hand of God.  For those of us who find ourselves in relationship with Him, it is a time of recounting, remembering and relishing such sweetness of relationship, His hand of provision through the calm and the storms of life.  From miniscule to magnificent, we will assemble around a table of blessing, prepared and shared together, my heart grafted in gratefulness to all God allows this soul to drink deeply, from Him with thanksgiving.  Again I say, I am thankful to my LORD.  Grafted in Gratefulness.