I remember Thanksgiving weeks before Black Friday ever existed.
Yes! There was such a time.
Instead of hurrying out to the malls and rushing around all day spending all the money they didn’t need to spend; most families went to the movies, enjoyed a dinner out, let the kids sleep late, played touch football in the back yard and just sat around together telling stories.
Yes! Those days really happened!
I have one especially fond memory of a Thanksgiving week. It was when I gave all the kids (we raised four) a brown paper bag, some scissors and some crayons and construction paper. Then I told them to decorate their bag in a way that reminded them to give thanks.
This happened a week before Thanksgiving. Most of the bags turned into colorful, funny looking turkeys.
We sat all of the bags down in a row in the middle of our kitchen table for a whole week. Every morning for seven days we all wrote down one thing that we were thankful for. Those things were dropped into our bags.
Every morning we also worked on learning and reciting Psalm 100.
On Thanksgiving day all of the kids collected their bags and read to us the things they had been thankful for all during the past week.
It was a really cozy, cute and precious moment.
One of Jason’s thankful’s said “I’m thankful that everyone has had a bath before dinner every night so no one at the table has stinky feet.”
Lauren was thankful that her Barbie had a new dress. Christin was thankful for her new teacher at school. Erin was thankful that they were getting OUT of school for several days for the holiday.
There was a whole mix of normal, funny, touching, lovely things that kids under 12 say when they are being thankful.
They all kept their turkey bags for a long time. Each child stored their bag in their room. I think some of them were secretly still dropping things that they were thankful for into the bags long after the Thanksgiving holiday was over.
I was happy they got the point of being grateful for all of the abundance of life. They were acutely aware of all the big things and the little things. None of them forgot the fact that God had given us all a new home that year. It was just down the road from some loving grandparents who would always be there to spoil everyone. Those grandparents made the “thankful” list that year too.
Everyone remembered to give thanks for the special people that they loved. This included their friends they played with. Lots of thanks were given for church activities we had participated in together over the last year. They listed fishing in our little pond and running over the farm with our new little puppy that Uncle Buddy had given to us.
Just four little kids being thankful for one thing a day really added up!
No one complained about the time it took to name them though. Everyone was curious as to what the other was most thankful for.
For our table blessing on Thanksgiving Day (it was usually The Johnny Appleseed Blessing that we all sang together) we held hands and recited Psalm 100 together.
“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
I caught myself remembering this memory lately. In that moment I was being thankful for this beautiful scripture passage that all of our grown children, who are now in their 30’s and approaching their 40’s with children of their own will often still quote word-for-word and out loud at our yearly gatherings. I have visions of them teaching the passage to their own children.
This morning as I added The Good Shepherd and his sheep to the table decor for our Thanksgiving At The Farm Celebration; I was so grateful for all of the above.
I lifted up a prayer of thanks to that Good Shepherd who lead me to teach them that Psalm so many, many years ago. His loving, gentle guidance was faithful then and it continues to lead us through today. He is busy working with that next generation of grandchildren.
I smile as I put the wooden replica of him in among the hay fields, the big trucks feeding the cattle, and the tractor driving Barbie that I will give to my granddaughter and grandsons this Thanksgiving.
The Good Shepherd stands firm among all of the other things. His sheep look happy, well-fed and content. The children realize He is not just a toy among the other things on the table; but the One who lives inside their loving hearts.
I smile because of Him. Also because of the fact that this year He has lead me to skip all of The Black Friday madness.
Our family will instead be spending time with The Good Shepherd.
We will be grazing in the green pastures and resting beside the still waters and most of all; we will all know that with Him; we are home.
That is ALL that we will ever need.
Note to our readers: I have compiled a devotional book called THE GOSPEL HIDDEN IN GENESIS – BOOKS ONE AND TWO. If you enjoy these articles you might also love these books. They can be read a chapter at a time as a daily devotional that will walk you through the Book of Genesis. It is for sale on Amazon if you are interested; just click here to find it:
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