Giving Thanks

 

 

2MefromHim Devotional

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” Hebrews 13:15

 

It was less than two months since my dad’s death. Shortly before that my father-in-law had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Thanksgiving was a difficult time. Our families gathered in the usual fashion, but there was a damper on the usually boisterous groups. Pain, loss and questions filled our hearts and minds.

Looking back nineteen years, I remember feeling as if I was in a fog for months, sort of operating on auto-pilot. The only thing I can clearly recall is a painful recognition that nothing would ever be the same again and a desperate longing for the way things used to be, but we could be thankful for those two precious men and God’s presence.

The two most famous proclamations of thanksgiving in our country were not made during times of great joy and celebration, but following times of great hardship and suffering marked by the recognition that God is good even when circumstances are not.

William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony, issued his proclamation of thanksgiving in the autumn of 1621. Almost a year following their landing at Plymouth Rock, only 44 remained of the Pilgrims’ original number of 102, due to malnutrition, scurvy and other illnesses. They had survived partly due to the kindness of the Native Americans of the area, in particular, Squanto and Massasoit.

When Abraham Lincoln gave his Proclamation creating the national day of Thanksgiving in 1863, the celebration took place only one week after his dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg, “In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity.”

We can identify far more easily with the loss of the Pilgrims and our predecessors of Lincoln’s time than with the perfect families in television commercials and Hallmark movies. The writer of Hebrews says we are to offer thanks as a sacrifice. At the cost of our own personal feelings, our thanks should be based in the person of our Lord and Savior who gave His life that we might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Our thanks is not based in outward circumstances or the bounty of good things we possess, but the person of Jesus Christ.

This year, look at the things God says we should be thanking Him for. Take time to go around the table and comment on what God has done for you in spite of the difficulties of life. Rejoice in Him.

(Quotation from Lincoln’s “Thanksgiving Day Proclamation”)

About the author:

Norma Gail’s debut contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, set in Scotland and New Mexico released in April 2014. She is a former Bible Study Fellowship discussion leader who established the first weekly women’s Bible studies in her church in 2003 and continues to lead a weekly small group. Her devotionals, poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She has led weekly women’s Bible studies for 19 years. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, FaithWriters, and the New Mexico Christian Novelists. She is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom who loves family research, history, and Scotland. Norma lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 39 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

www.normagail.org

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Book Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170/ or

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/land-of-my-dreams-norma-gail/1119606864 ?ean=9781941103173

 

© Copyright, Norma Gail Thurston Holtman, November 17, 2011 & September 16, 2014