I Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

As everyone knows, that does not live under a rock, this Thursday is Thanksgiving.  I have always liked Thanksgiving for many reasons.  Here are a few:

1.  I get to see my family that I love.  Especially the ones from out of town.  I am turning into my Mamaw.  If it’s a holiday or Sunday dinner, my loved ones are required to be at my house.  And if not, I just won’t ever understand what else could be so important that you could not have your feet under my table for that time.  I just love them that much.

2. Thanksgiving is leisure time.  Not like that other holiday that is coming up next month.  Thanksgiving is cooking & eating & visiting.  You are really not required to do anything except cook, eat, & visit.  That’s easy.  Oh & watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade & football games.  Plus, we enjoy a little Just Dance, on the Wii, at our house as well.  Miss Neenee’s usual response when I play is,

“Mama quit. You are embarrassing yourself.”

3. We eat our way through the whole holiday.  I begin by hosting Thanksgiving breakfast.  We fill our bellies full of biscuits, Mama’s breakfast casserole, quiche, homemade Danish, bacon, sausage, & various & asundry jellies, preserves, & whatever else I can come up with.  Then, once that’s over, we go for the meal with the star of the show- the smoked turkey.  There’s dressing(not stuffing), cranberry sauce, beans, corn, salads, shells & cheese, casseroles, rolls, so much I can’t name it all.  And desserts that will make you want to slap yo’ mama & draw back at your daddy.  **On a side note, speaking of which, my Daddy has already proclaimed his Thanksgiving day plans are to eat breakfast at my house, then, go back to one of the bedrooms & sleep until we wake him up for dinner. **  I love a well thought out plan.

4. Me & my sweetie get to cook together.  It just all comes full circle.  We love to eat.  So, cooking together makes it just that much more fun.

5.  No stressing out.   I have my menu made weeks in advance.  I get my groceries bought up.  We plan when we are cooking what.  We execute our plan.  If anything goes amiss, it’s ok.  It’s all family.  They don’t care.  Not like Christmas.  My hair will be falling out before Christmas Eve.  Seriously.  It happens every year.  You don’t have to worry about presents on Thanksgiving or making sure everything is just right.  I leave that for next month.

So you see, I try my best, to celebrate Thanksgiving the way it should be.  Being thankful for what the Lord has so graciously blessed us with.  I read an article that has suggested showing gratitude is a lot more healthier for us than not being thankful- even for the everyday things.  You can read 20 Mind Blowing things about Gratitude here.  I do want to mention Bro. Brad preached an excellent sermon on Sunday- pinpointing being thankful.  He said he had read a story about a preacher that was always thankful.  He said one of the negative Nancy’s of the congregation came in thinking there was no way the preacher would find anything to be thankful for that day.  It was nasty outside.  Raining, wind blowing, terrible weather.  When the preacher got up to pray, he said,

“Thank you, Lord, that not all days are like this.”

What a wonderful attitude of gratitude.  There is always something to be thankful for.  The blanket on our bed, that keeps us warm a night.  The roof over our heads.  Hot water.  Shoes. Our sight.  Things that oftentimes we take for granted.  We as a society are so funny.  Because you know what the day after Thanksgiving is- Black Friday.

Sad, but true.

I am glad you stopped by to visit with me today.  I so hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Like every year, I will be so happy to be surrounded by friends & family.  However, will be missing my Mama, too.  She loved a celebration.  No matter what it was for.  Happy Thanksgiving, ya’ll!!  Until next time I will be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: someecards.com, tilhecomes.org, thanksgiving scripture