The First Thanksgiving! 11/24/08

For those who follow our daily discussions, last weeks study ended on Saturday morning. Please scroll down for the last thought of last week. Now for this week we are going take a walk down memory lane looking at the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims. I pray that this walk will encourage all of us to be more thankful than ever that our God loves us and is still in control.


THE FIRST THANKSGIVING!
Do you ever wonder about the very first thanksgiving experienced by the pilgrims and their new best friends, the Indians? I know what I have read in history books! I am aware of how the new thinkers are wanting to change history to suit themselves! However, the very first thanksgiving had to be full of many firsts. The first large gathering of people full of excitement because of their great crops that year. The first gathering of foreigners on this new land and those who felt this land was theirs alone. The first time these people came together in unity and began to share in thanking God. Wow! Not to mention the first, of eating new kinds of food!
I was two weeks shy of 24 when Jim and I married in January. As the year moved on we began to approach our first thanksgiving as a married couple. My family gatherings were always large because there were so many. We had just moved into our first home and I was going to be making my first pies! Growing up I baked cakes, Joyce did pies.....I was excited and Clarence, my brother-in-law was giving me pointers and even came out to taste my crust. I even made a criss-cross crust on top of one. Clancy took a bite of the crust and then another small one. He looked up and said; "Add a little butter and this dough would make tasty biscuits". My spirits were not daunted, because these were my very first and they looked good.
We left for church as was our custom on Thanksgiving Day, and then on to celebrate. Later that night as we returned home, Jim and I noticed that all the lights were on and the front door was standing wide open. Our new puppy, Frosty, was sitting behind the screen door whimpering. We both wondered who was in our house? We approached the door. We could hear the TV, and cautiously went inside! No one was there! Our back door was badly scratched from Frosty’s trying to get out to do her business. Evidence that she couldn’t wait was apparent on the carpet by the front door. Obviously, with all the excitement of the morning surrounding ‘pies’, we forgot to secure our home and care for our baby. Some of the air in our bubble began to leak as we tried to put things back in order. How could we have done that? How could we both have neglected our new home and baby in such a careless manner?
Excitement does that to a person! Are you excited when Sunday morning comes? When the church family is planning their big thanksgiving dinner, are you excited? Do you get excited when you know that the church doors will be open and knowing family fellowship is just ahead? Through the years I have known many who are always there when the doors are open. They must be excited! I know that I am, but then I am one who hates to miss out on anything! In the book of Psalm, we find that David’s heart was full of thanksgiving! In 26:7 he says; "That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and declare all Thy wonders"! In 95:2-3 he continues with; "Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with singing. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods"! Again in 100:4-5 David says; "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name for the Lord is good; His loving kindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness is to all generations". The early pilgrims suffered many hardships when they entered the domain of the Indians. Many Conflicts arose among the good and the bad! Those who sought peace were able to find it with those who were also seeking peace. In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul encourages us with these words; "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". During this season, think on these things! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 11/11/08